First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Raises Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,173 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $785,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 330,453 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $81,718,000 after purchasing an additional 8,668 shares in the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its holdings in Equifax by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 62,249 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $15,394,000 after buying an additional 6,418 shares in the last quarter. Tobam boosted its position in Equifax by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 568 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $140,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Equifax by 38.8% during the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 113,315 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $20,757,000 after acquiring an additional 31,686 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equifax Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE EFX opened at $227.05 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $28.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.54. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $250.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $234.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Equifax Inc. has a 12-month low of $159.95 and a 12-month high of $275.10.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.42% and a return on equity of 19.08%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.36 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Equifax’s payout ratio is currently 34.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on EFX shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Equifax from $208.00 to $289.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $272.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $270.19.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Rodolfo O. Ploder sold 14,097 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total value of $3,178,168.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,126,083.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total value of $13,143,735.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 109,220 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,623,649. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Rodolfo O. Ploder sold 14,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total transaction of $3,178,168.65. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,126,083.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

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.