Simplicity Solutions LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Simplicity Solutions LLC decreased its holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,127 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 48 shares during the quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $526,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Equifax in the third quarter worth $25,000. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC bought a new position in Equifax in the third quarter worth $27,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new position in Equifax in the second quarter worth $29,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Equifax by 70.8% in the third quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 193 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co raised its holdings in Equifax by 55.5% in the third quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 199 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on EFX. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $305.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Equifax from $195.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 29th. Bank of America upgraded Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $164.00 to $300.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. TheStreet upgraded Equifax from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, December 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on Equifax from $273.00 to $291.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $267.00.

Equifax Trading Down 8.5 %

Equifax stock opened at $217.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. Equifax Inc. has a one year low of $159.95 and a one year high of $275.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.02 billion, a PE ratio of 49.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.51. The business’s fifty day moving average is $258.45 and its 200 day moving average is $230.95.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.06. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 10.36%. The company had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.43 earnings per share. Equifax’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. Equifax’s payout ratio is 35.45%.

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.