B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Takes Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 44,266 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,008,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 3.4% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 9,258 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,720,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Equifax by 30.2% in the third quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,753 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after acquiring an additional 870 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Equifax in the third quarter valued at about $786,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Equifax by 22.3% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 6,097 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,792,000 after acquiring an additional 1,110 shares during the period. Finally, Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. bought a new position in Equifax in the third quarter valued at about $236,000. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EFX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, October 18th. BNP Paribas raised Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Equifax from $300.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $308.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other Equifax news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total transaction of $272,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares in the company, valued at $3,075,535.48. This trade represents a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total value of $15,770,648.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 109,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,532,909.67. This represents a 34.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.66% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Equifax Stock Performance

NYSE:EFX opened at $245.29 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Equifax Inc. has a 12-month low of $204.16 and a 12-month high of $309.63. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $281.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $267.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.59.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.76 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. 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.