Two Sigma Advisers LP Has $31.70 Million Stock Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 354.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 124,400 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 97,000 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP’s holdings in Equifax were worth $31,703,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of EFX. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Equifax by 39.0% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 10,843 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,775,000 after buying an additional 3,043 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 2.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 184,890 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $54,329,000 after acquiring an additional 5,097 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Equifax by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,585 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,572,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Equifax by 95.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,617,574 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $412,239,000 after purchasing an additional 791,730 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 142,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,539,980.95. This represents a 13.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total value of $518,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,887,101.60. This trade represents a 2.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Performance

NYSE EFX opened at $276.83 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $244.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $252.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Equifax Inc. has a 1 year low of $199.98 and a 1 year high of $309.63.

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

Equifax Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This is a positive change from Equifax’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EFX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Equifax from $313.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Equifax in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $280.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $260.00 target price (down from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company 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.