Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Bought by Wells Fargo & Company MN

Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 503,473 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 857 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN’s holdings in Equifax were worth $124,504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Equifax in the 4th quarter valued at about $359,000. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 26.6% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 98,987 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $24,478,000 after buying an additional 20,775 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 33,920 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $8,388,000 after buying an additional 1,079 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 2,374 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $587,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $204,218,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EFX opened at $242.17 on Thursday. Equifax Inc. has a 1-year low of $159.95 and a 1-year high of $275.10. The business has a 50-day moving average of $244.65 and a 200-day moving average of $240.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company has a market capitalization of $29.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.94, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.54.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.08% and a net margin of 10.42%. Equifax’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.43 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 23rd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on EFX shares. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Equifax from $291.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Evercore ISI upgraded Equifax from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $210.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Equifax from $275.00 to $260.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Equifax from $300.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Equifax from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $270.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Karen L. Fichuk bought 415 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were bought at an average price of $238.77 per share, with a total value of $99,089.55. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $789,134.85. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Karen L. Fichuk bought 415 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were bought at an average price of $238.77 per share, with a total value of $99,089.55. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $789,134.85. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Rodolfo O. Ploder sold 14,097 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total value of $3,178,168.65. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 75,964 shares in the company, valued at $17,126,083.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.