Sapient Capital LLC Buys Shares of 3,018 Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,018 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $746,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 2,022 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $500,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust lifted its holdings in Equifax by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 1,507 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $373,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in Equifax by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 793 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $196,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in Equifax by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 4,287 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $768,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. lifted its holdings in Equifax by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 17,258 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,268,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equifax Trading Up 1.1 %

Equifax stock traded up $2.55 during trading on Friday, reaching $227.05. The company had a trading volume of 730,987 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,140,132. Equifax Inc. has a 12-month low of $159.95 and a 12-month high of $275.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $250.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $234.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.57, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.06. Equifax had a net margin of 10.42% and a return on equity of 19.08%. The business had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Equifax’s payout ratio is currently 34.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EFX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $272.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Equifax from $291.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Equifax from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Equifax from $208.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $270.19.

Insider Transactions at Equifax

In related news, EVP Rodolfo O. Ploder sold 14,097 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total value of $3,178,168.65. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 75,964 shares in the company, valued at $17,126,083.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total transaction of $13,143,735.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,623,649. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Rodolfo O. Ploder sold 14,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total transaction of $3,178,168.65. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,126,083.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

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.