Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. Cuts Stock Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. trimmed its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 7.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 44,500 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 3,500 shares during the quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $10,838,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,389,505 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,667,165,000 after purchasing an additional 135,009 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Equifax by 15.6% during the 4th 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. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Equifax by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,123,701 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $796,075,000 after buying an additional 11,861 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Equifax by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,957,204 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $751,645,000 after acquiring an additional 71,543 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cantillon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Equifax by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,835,102 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $467,676,000 after acquiring an additional 9,702 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

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

Equifax Stock Performance

NYSE EFX opened at $267.27 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.33, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.63. The business’s 50 day moving average is $256.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $253.36. Equifax Inc. has a 12-month low of $199.98 and a 12-month high of $309.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

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

Equifax Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 23rd. 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 dividend yield of 0.75%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is 40.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on EFX. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Equifax from $277.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $305.00 price target (up previously from $295.00) on shares of Equifax in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Equifax from $288.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $260.00 target price (down from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $293.75.

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.