Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) CEO Mark W. Begor Sells 58,300 Shares of Stock

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,300 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total transaction of $13,143,735.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 109,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,623,649. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Equifax Stock Performance

NYSE EFX opened at $220.19 on Wednesday. Equifax Inc. has a 52-week low of $159.95 and a 52-week high of $275.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73. The company has a market capitalization of $27.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a fifty day moving average of $254.06 and a 200-day moving average of $233.64.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.06. Equifax had a net margin of 10.42% and a return on equity of 19.08%. The company had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EFX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $272.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Equifax from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $210.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Equifax from $275.00 to $260.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equifax currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $270.19.

Institutional Trading of Equifax

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Equifax by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,895,487 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,436,215,000 after purchasing an additional 204,481 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Equifax by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,703,228 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,388,695,000 after purchasing an additional 40,642 shares during the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP lifted its stake in Equifax by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 3,856,248 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $953,612,000 after purchasing an additional 298,846 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Equifax by 2.7% in the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,505,338 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $458,928,000 after purchasing an additional 65,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its stake in Equifax by 1,740.8% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,085,879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $515,817,000 after purchasing an additional 1,972,564 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.