LRI Investments LLC Lowers Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

LRI Investments LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 993 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 46 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $292,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Equifax by 5.4% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 36,380 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,691,000 after acquiring an additional 1,869 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Equifax during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,070,000. MML Investors Services LLC raised its position in Equifax by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 15,454 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,541,000 after purchasing an additional 602 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 73.6% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 5,693 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,673,000 after buying an additional 2,414 shares during the period. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Equifax during the third quarter worth about $1,386,000. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other Equifax news, 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,045,781.83. This represents a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total value of $272,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. This trade represents a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 59,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,187,044. 1.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of EFX stock opened at $264.93 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $269.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $269.53. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $32.84 billion, a PE ratio of 58.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.57. Equifax Inc. has a 52-week low of $213.02 and a 52-week high of $309.63.

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

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EFX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Equifax from $315.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $308.94.

Equifax Company 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.