Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC Boosts Stock Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,112 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $793,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Equifax by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,392 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its stake in Equifax by 153.8% in the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 73,832 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $18,816,000 after acquiring an additional 44,739 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Equifax by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,970 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,599,000 after acquiring an additional 5,066 shares during the period. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Equifax by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,716 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,457,000 after acquiring an additional 652 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in Equifax during the 4th quarter valued at $2,053,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on EFX. BNP Paribas raised shares of Equifax from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Equifax in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $360.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley raised Equifax from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $275.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $311.12.

Insider Activity

In other Equifax news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total value of $143,474.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,045,781.83. The trade was a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,532,909.67. The trade was a 34.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 59,855 shares of company stock worth $16,187,044 over the last 90 days. 1.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of Equifax stock opened at $262.87 on Tuesday. Equifax Inc. has a 1 year low of $213.02 and a 1 year high of $309.63. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $257.92 and its 200 day moving average is $273.66. The stock has a market cap of $32.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.42, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Equifax Announces Dividend

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

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.