PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Has $8.39 Million Stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 33,920 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,079 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $8,388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of EFX. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 9,502 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,741,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Equifax in the 3rd quarter valued at about $205,000. Ieq Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 6,154 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,127,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,173 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,740,000 after acquiring an additional 6,189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 55.5% in the 3rd quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 199 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EFX has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Equifax from $276.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Equifax from $275.00 to $260.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Equifax from $290.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Equifax from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Equifax from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $210.00 to $310.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $270.19.

Equifax Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of EFX stock opened at $237.16 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $29.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.82, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.54. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $244.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $240.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73. Equifax Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $159.95 and a fifty-two week high of $275.10.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.06. The business 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is 34.74%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total transaction of $13,143,735.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 109,220 shares in the company, valued at $24,623,649. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Equifax news, EVP Rodolfo O. Ploder sold 14,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 75,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,126,083.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total value of $13,143,735.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,220 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,623,649. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

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.