Cinctive Capital Management LP Invests $3.70 Million in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Cinctive Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 12,583 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,698,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Equifax during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Equifax by 76.1% during the second quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Equifax in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Crewe Advisors LLC increased its stake in Equifax by 138.2% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 131 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Community Trust NA bought a new stake in Equifax during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total value of $15,770,648.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,532,909.67. The trade was a 34.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total value of $143,474.89. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,045,781.83. This trade represents a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 59,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,187,044 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Price Performance

Equifax stock opened at $258.70 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $32.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.49, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Equifax Inc. has a 12 month low of $213.02 and a 12 month high of $309.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $273.71 and its 200-day moving average is $268.77.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.01. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.76 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group started coverage on Equifax in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $360.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $306.74.

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.