Metis Global Partners LLC Sells 371 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Metis Global Partners LLC reduced its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,095 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 371 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $1,260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 2,022 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $500,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 1,507 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 793 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $196,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 4,287 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $768,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 17,258 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,268,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on EFX shares. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Equifax from $291.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Equifax from $300.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Equifax from $290.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $272.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Equifax from $276.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $270.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Rodolfo O. Ploder sold 14,097 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total transaction of $3,178,168.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 75,964 shares in the company, valued at $17,126,083.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Rodolfo O. Ploder sold 14,097 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total transaction of $3,178,168.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 75,964 shares in the company, valued at $17,126,083.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,300 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total value of $13,143,735.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 109,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,623,649. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EFX opened at $234.30 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.18, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.54. The business has a 50-day moving average of $249.02 and a 200-day moving average of $235.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Equifax Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $159.95 and a fifty-two week high of $275.10.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.08% and a net margin of 10.42%. Equifax’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.43 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 23rd. Equifax’s payout ratio is 34.74%.

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.