Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Sells 37,466 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. trimmed its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 38.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,925 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 37,466 shares during the quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $17,609,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EFX. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. bought a new stake in Equifax in the 3rd quarter valued at $236,000. Linscomb Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 5,393 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,585,000 after buying an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Equifax by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,149 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $632,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in Equifax by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,205 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,236,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in Equifax by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 215,282 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $63,160,000 after acquiring an additional 24,443 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total value of $272,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,075,535.48. This trade represents a 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total value of $15,770,648.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,532,909.67. The trade was a 34.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of EFX opened at $248.27 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $30.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.17, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.59. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $282.67 and a 200 day moving average of $267.55. Equifax Inc. has a 12 month low of $197.13 and a 12 month high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.01. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.76 earnings per share. Equifax’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EFX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Equifax from $300.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.47.

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.