Blueshift Asset Management LLC Has $3.49 Million Stock Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC grew its position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 384.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,868 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,416 shares during the period. Equifax comprises about 0.9% of Blueshift Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Blueshift Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $3,488,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in Equifax in the 1st quarter worth approximately $764,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 55.5% during the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,448 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $387,000 after buying an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Equifax by 1.7% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 200,792 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $53,716,000 after acquiring an additional 3,316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in Equifax by 8.0% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EFX has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Equifax from $315.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Equifax currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $306.74.

Equifax Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of EFX opened at $258.94 on Wednesday. Equifax Inc. has a 52 week low of $208.67 and a 52 week high of $309.63. The firm has a market cap of $32.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.59. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $276.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $268.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.76 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Equifax’s payout ratio is 34.67%.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total transaction of $15,770,648.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 109,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,532,909.67. The trade was a 34.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the firm’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 in the company, valued at $3,075,535.48. This trade represents a 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.