Jensen Investment Management Inc. Sells 263,556 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Jensen Investment Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 17.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,241,945 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 263,556 shares during the period. Equifax accounts for 3.1% of Jensen Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Jensen Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $364,958,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of EFX. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 10,827 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,897,000 after buying an additional 809 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax in the first quarter worth about $746,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 18.4% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,695 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $453,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Equifax by 48.3% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 19,343 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,175,000 after acquiring an additional 6,304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden increased its holdings in Equifax by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 24,800 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,634,000 after acquiring an additional 2,800 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 109,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,532,909.67. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,075,535.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at $29,532,909.67. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Equifax Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE EFX traded up $1.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $270.93. The stock had a trading volume of 656,955 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,057,108. The firm has a market cap of $33.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $286.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $265.87. Equifax Inc. has a 1 year low of $180.31 and a 1 year high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.76 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Equifax’s payout ratio is presently 34.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on EFX shares. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Equifax from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a report on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Equifax from $255.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.47.

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.