Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Sells 13,000 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 31.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,700 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 13,000 shares during the period. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $7,059,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EFX. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter worth approximately $330,400,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 7,883,233.3% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 946,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $241,087,000 after buying an additional 945,988 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 95.9% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,617,574 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $412,239,000 after buying an additional 791,730 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,027,817 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,281,340,000 after buying an additional 679,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter worth approximately $113,896,000. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of EFX stock opened at $262.50 on Monday. Equifax Inc. has a 12 month low of $199.98 and a 12 month high of $309.63. The stock has a market cap of $32.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $246.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $252.58.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.08. Equifax had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.41 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Equifax’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on EFX shares. Argus downgraded shares of Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $295.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equifax presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $294.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other news, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total value of $518,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,887,101.60. This represents a 2.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.61, for a total transaction of $5,686,477.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 142,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,539,980.95. This trade represents a 13.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.