Trust Co of the South Reduces Stock Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Trust Co of the South lowered its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 10.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 859 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 104 shares during the period. Trust Co of the South’s holdings in Equifax were worth $219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Equifax by 3.7% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,166 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,495,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Equifax by 45.9% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,344 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 423 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Equifax by 1.2% in the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 80,350 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $19,482,000 after acquiring an additional 968 shares during the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in Equifax by 0.9% in the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 10,647 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,581,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equifax Stock Performance

NYSE EFX traded down $4.30 on Thursday, hitting $250.55. 314,574 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 878,875. The firm has a market cap of $31.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.57. Equifax Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $213.02 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $261.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $272.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.76 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equifax news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total value of $143,474.89. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,697 shares in the company, valued at $3,045,781.83. This represents a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total transaction of $272,920.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. This represents a 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 59,855 shares of company stock worth $16,187,044. 1.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EFX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Equifax from $315.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Equifax from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Wolfe Research lowered Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $311.18.

About Equifax

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.