Cooper Investors PTY Ltd. Acquires 2,371 Shares of Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Cooper Investors PTY Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 13.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,311 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,371 shares during the quarter. Cooper Investors PTY Ltd.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $4,947,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 1,920.0% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 101 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in Equifax in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its holdings in Equifax by 505.0% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 121 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. City Holding Co. bought a new stake in Equifax during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in shares of Equifax in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.61, for a total value of $5,686,477.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 142,395 shares in the company, valued at $36,539,980.95. This trade represents a 13.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total transaction of $518,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,176 shares in the company, valued at $16,887,101.60. This trade represents a 2.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Down 0.2%

EFX stock opened at $255.29 on Tuesday. Equifax, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $199.98 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63. The stock has a market cap of $31.71 billion, a PE ratio of 52.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.64. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $259.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $253.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 18.81%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Equifax, Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 23rd. This is a positive change from Equifax’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Equifax’s payout ratio is 40.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on EFX. Bank of America downgraded Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $300.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Equifax from $277.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $260.00 target price (down previously from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Equifax from $277.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, March 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $294.94.

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.