Townsquare Capital LLC Purchases 1,318 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 14,792 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,318 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $4,347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Conning Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 4.7% in the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 848 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $206,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Equifax by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 3,726 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $903,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Equifax by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 371 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 0.3% in the second quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,464 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,749,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust grew its position in Equifax by 3.0% during the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 1,665 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $489,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on EFX. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Equifax in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $360.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. BNP Paribas raised Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equifax currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $306.74.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total transaction of $272,920.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,269 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. This represents a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total value of $143,474.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,045,781.83. This represents a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 59,855 shares of company stock worth $16,187,044 over the last 90 days. 1.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Equifax Stock Up 0.1 %

EFX opened at $261.56 on Friday. Equifax Inc. has a 52 week low of $213.02 and a 52 week high of $309.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $274.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $268.38. The company has a market capitalization of $32.42 billion, a PE ratio of 58.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.59.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.76 EPS. Analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Equifax’s payout ratio is 34.67%.

Equifax Profile

Equifax Inc operates as a data, analytics, and technology company. The company operates through three segments: Workforce Solutions, U.S. Information Solutions (USIS), and International. The Workforce Solutions segment offers services that enables customers to verify income, employment, educational history, criminal justice data, healthcare professional licensure, and sanctions of people in the United States; and employer customers with services that assist them in complying with and automating payroll-related and human resource management processes throughout the entire cycle of the employment relationship.