Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,184 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,738 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $4,462,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EFX. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Equifax during the third quarter worth $29,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in Equifax in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Equifax by 76.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Equifax by 138.2% in the second 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 last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut 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. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $306.74.

Insider Transactions at Equifax

In other news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. The trade was a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total value of $15,770,648.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at $29,532,909.67. This trade represents a 34.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE EFX opened at $258.94 on Wednesday. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $208.67 and a 1 year high of $309.63. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $276.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $268.36. The firm has a market cap of $32.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.54, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.59.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced 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. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.76 EPS. Equifax’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.67%.

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.