Toronto Dominion Bank Acquires 8,467 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 23.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,626 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,467 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Equifax were worth $13,114,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equifax during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its position 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 period. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Equifax during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Crewe Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Equifax by 271.4% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 156 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total transaction of $15,770,648.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 109,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,532,909.67. This trade represents a 34.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 $3,075,535.48. The trade was a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 59,855 shares of company stock worth $16,187,044 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE EFX opened at $265.95 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $267.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $269.78. The stock has a market cap of $32.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.57. Equifax Inc. has a 52-week low of $213.02 and a 52-week high of $309.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.76 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Equifax in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $360.00 price objective on the stock. Wolfe Research lowered Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. BNP Paribas upgraded Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $311.67.

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.