Insider Selling: Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) EVP Sells 2,000 Shares of Stock

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total transaction of $518,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,887,101.60. The trade was a 2.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EFX opened at $269.82 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $240.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $252.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.51 billion, a PE ratio of 55.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Equifax Inc. has a 12 month low of $199.98 and a 12 month high of $309.63.

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

Equifax Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. This is a boost from Equifax’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is 40.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on EFX. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Equifax from $313.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $260.00 price target (down from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, April 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equifax currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.00.

Institutional Trading of Equifax

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter worth about $330,400,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Equifax by 7,883,233.3% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 946,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $241,087,000 after acquiring an additional 945,988 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Equifax by 95.9% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,617,574 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $412,239,000 after acquiring an additional 791,730 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 24,315.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 696,094 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $169,541,000 after purchasing an additional 693,243 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,027,817 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,281,340,000 after purchasing an additional 679,688 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equifax Company 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.