Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Makes New $9.94 Million Investment in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 33,840 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,944,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Equifax by 4.9% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,276,798 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,036,952,000 after buying an additional 200,665 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Equifax by 2.4% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,044,561 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $738,184,000 after acquiring an additional 70,091 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 72.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,514,093 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $405,051,000 after purchasing an additional 633,887 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 76,913.8% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 960,362 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $282,212,000 after buying an additional 959,115 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its position in Equifax by 4.3% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 652,631 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $174,511,000 after purchasing an additional 27,192 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EFX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $306.74.

Insider Activity at Equifax

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

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of EFX stock opened at $252.92 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $278.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $267.58. Equifax Inc. has a 52-week low of $208.67 and a 52-week high of $309.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.59.

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

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.67%.

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.