Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Buys New Shares in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec purchased a new position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 13,500 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,967,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in Equifax by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 5,422 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,593,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 41.0% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 40,886 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $12,015,000 after acquiring an additional 11,885 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Equifax during the third quarter valued at approximately $4,076,000. Blueshift Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Equifax by 384.0% during the third quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC now owns 11,868 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,488,000 after purchasing an additional 9,416 shares during the period. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 14,792 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,318 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Equifax from $315.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $306.74.

Insider Transactions 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, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total value of $143,474.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,045,781.83. This trade represents a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 59,855 shares of company stock worth $16,187,044 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:EFX opened at $258.70 on Tuesday. Equifax Inc. has a 12 month low of $213.02 and a 12 month high of $309.63. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $273.71 and its 200 day moving average is $268.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.07 billion, a PE ratio of 57.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 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 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 firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.76 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

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

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.