Harris Associates L P Sells 469,272 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Harris Associates L P trimmed its position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,820,948 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 469,272 shares during the quarter. Harris Associates L P’s holdings in Equifax were worth $535,104,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Equifax during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 76.1% in the second quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Equifax during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Crewe Advisors LLC lifted 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 in the last quarter. Finally, First Community Trust NA purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equifax Trading Down 1.1 %

EFX opened at $258.70 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $32.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $273.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $268.77. Equifax Inc. has a 1-year low of $213.02 and a 1-year high of $309.63.

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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.76 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total transaction of $15,770,648.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at $29,532,909.67. This trade represents a 34.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,269 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. The trade was a 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 59,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,187,044 in the last quarter. 1.66% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on EFX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Equifax has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.