First Financial Corp IN Purchases Shares of 209 Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

First Financial Corp IN purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 209 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $56,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax in the first quarter worth about $4,743,000. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 5.1% in the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,038 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. &PARTNERS boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 17.9% in the first quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 1,297 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $347,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 21.6% in the first quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 1,383 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $370,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gulf International Bank UK Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 0.8% in the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 10,125 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,708,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Trading Down 1.2 %

Equifax stock traded down $2.85 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $237.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 556,349 shares, compared to its average volume of 836,773. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.35 billion, a PE ratio of 53.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.57. Equifax Inc. has a 1 year low of $159.95 and a 1 year high of $275.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $235.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $246.36.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.06. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.08% and a net margin of 10.42%. The business had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.43 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.37 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. Equifax’s payout ratio is 34.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equifax news, Director Karen L. Fichuk purchased 415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $238.77 per share, with a total value of $99,089.55. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $789,134.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Karen L. Fichuk bought 415 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $238.77 per share, with a total value of $99,089.55. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $789,134.85. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rodolfo O. Ploder sold 14,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total value of $3,178,168.65. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,126,083.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 83,635 shares of company stock valued at $18,969,282 in the last three months. 1.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EFX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $305.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a report on Thursday, April 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Equifax from $276.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Equifax from $275.00 to $260.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Equifax from $291.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on Equifax from $300.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $270.19.

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.