Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Sold by Kensico Capital Management Corp

Kensico Capital Management Corp lessened its position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 771,900 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 5,600 shares during the quarter. Equifax makes up about 4.5% of Kensico Capital Management Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Kensico Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Equifax were worth $196,719,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 2.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 184,890 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $54,329,000 after purchasing an additional 5,097 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Equifax by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 147,448 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $43,329,000 after buying an additional 8,500 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Equifax by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 658,438 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $193,489,000 after buying an additional 50,680 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Equifax by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 11,541 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,953,000 after buying an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 26,876 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,849,000 after buying an additional 1,670 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Performance

EFX opened at $269.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $240.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $252.42. Equifax Inc. has a 1 year low of $199.98 and a 1 year high of $309.63. The company has a market capitalization of $33.51 billion, a PE ratio of 55.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.68.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.08. Equifax had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.41 billion. Research analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This is a boost from Equifax’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.90%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.61, for a total value of $5,686,477.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 142,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,539,980.95. The trade was a 13.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total transaction of $518,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,176 shares in the company, valued at $16,887,101.60. The trade was a 2.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on EFX shares. BNP Paribas downgraded Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $295.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $260.00 price target (down from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Equifax presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.00.

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.