Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Purchases 614 Shares of Equifax, Inc. $EFX

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 46.0% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,949 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 614 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $506,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EFX. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Equifax by 40.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,037,804 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,714,129,000 after buying an additional 2,009,987 shares in the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP grew its position in shares of Equifax by 63.4% during the 1st quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 2,801,325 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $682,291,000 after buying an additional 1,087,446 shares in the last quarter. Harris Associates L P grew its position in shares of Equifax by 27.6% during the 1st quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 4,570,557 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,113,205,000 after buying an additional 987,772 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Equifax by 119.3% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,453,618 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $354,044,000 after buying an additional 790,919 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in shares of Equifax by 55.9% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,318,914 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $321,235,000 after buying an additional 472,861 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 48,264 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.71, for a total value of $11,665,891.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 142,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,533,591.12. This trade represents a 25.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EFX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on Equifax from $260.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $295.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Equifax from $277.00 to $272.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Equifax from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Equifax from $287.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $280.93.

Equifax Trading Up 2.0%

Equifax stock opened at $231.37 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $246.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $250.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. Equifax, Inc. has a one year low of $199.98 and a one year high of $281.56. The stock has a market cap of $28.64 billion, a PE ratio of 45.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.68.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The credit services provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.92 by $0.08. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 10.95%.The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Equifax, Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.14%.

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.