Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 220,109 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 34.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 863,718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 220,109 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $251,480,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 23.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,365 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,241,000 after buying an additional 2,499 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Equifax during the second quarter worth approximately $15,646,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 3.9% during the second quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 54,509 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $13,216,000 after acquiring an additional 2,047 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Equifax by 16.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 584,820 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $141,789,000 after purchasing an additional 81,966 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Equifax by 3.7% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,397 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,880,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Equifax from $315.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Equifax from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $275.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $311.67.

Equifax Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of EFX stock opened at $265.81 on Friday. Equifax Inc. has a twelve month low of $213.02 and a twelve month high of $309.63. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $267.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $270.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.57.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.76 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Equifax’s payout ratio is 34.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other Equifax news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total transaction of $272,920.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,269 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. This represents a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 109,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,532,909.67. This represents a 34.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 59,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,187,044. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.