Equifax, Inc. $EFX Stake Lifted by Running Oak Capital LLC

Running Oak Capital LLC lifted its stake in Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 7.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 53,244 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,728 shares during the period. Running Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $7,307,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Equifax in the second quarter valued at $1,491,357,000. Soroban Capital Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 310.5% during the first quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,184,569 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $753,515,000 after purchasing an additional 3,165,120 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Equifax by 36.5% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,107,458 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $379,490,000 after purchasing an additional 563,880 shares in the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax during the second quarter worth about $290,868,000. Finally, Cantillon Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Equifax by 3.9% during the first quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,791,379 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $322,574,000 after purchasing an additional 67,381 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equifax Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE:EFX opened at $188.43 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $22.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.44, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $166.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.67. Equifax, Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.01 and a 12-month high of $228.67.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The credit services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.06. Equifax had a return on equity of 22.48% and a net margin of 11.27%. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.04 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Equifax, Inc. will post 8.50 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 25th will be given a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 25th. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 37,792 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.80, for a total transaction of $6,908,377.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 289,922 shares in the company, valued at $52,997,741.60. The trade was a 11.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP John Gamble sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.68, for a total transaction of $710,720.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 65,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,574,963.60. This represents a 5.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 46,292 shares of company stock valued at $8,464,918 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on EFX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Equifax in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded Equifax from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $214.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada cut Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $177.00 to $189.00 in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Equifax from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Equifax from $235.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.55.

About Equifax

Equifax Inc is a global data, analytics and technology company best known as one of the major consumer credit reporting agencies in the United States. The company traces its history to 1899, when it was founded as the Retail Credit Company, and adopted the Equifax name in 1975.

Equifax provides consumer and business credit information, credit reports and scores, and tools for identity verification and fraud prevention. Its products also help businesses assess risk and make decisions about lending, customer relationships and marketing.

Through its Workforce Solutions business, Equifax provides services such as employment and income verification for lenders, employers and government agencies.