Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Has $427,000 Stock Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 34.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,454 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $427,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 15.6% during the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 97,931 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,199,000 after purchasing an additional 13,212 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Equifax by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 292,914 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $78,360,000 after buying an additional 3,164 shares during the period. Yoder Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Equifax in the first quarter valued at about $212,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in Equifax by 0.5% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 13,371 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,577,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Norden Group LLC bought a new position in Equifax during the first quarter worth about $1,767,000. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Equifax news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.85, for a total transaction of $845,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,065,118.75. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Equifax stock opened at $269.89 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $293.01 and its 200 day moving average is $263.63. Equifax Inc. has a one year low of $159.95 and a one year high of $309.63. The firm has a market cap of $33.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.98, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm 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 earned $1.76 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.29 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on EFX shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Equifax from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Equifax in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.