Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Position Lessened by Olstein Capital Management L.P.

Olstein Capital Management L.P. cut its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 25.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 3,500 shares during the period. Olstein Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $2,675,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in Equifax by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,838 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 2,022 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $500,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 5.1% during the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,038 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust grew its holdings in Equifax by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 1,507 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $373,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners increased its position in Equifax by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 793 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $196,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on EFX. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Equifax from $276.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Equifax from $275.00 to $260.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Equifax from $291.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $305.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equifax currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $270.19.

Equifax Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of EFX traded up $0.45 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $240.41. The stock had a trading volume of 312,956 shares, compared to its average volume of 833,534. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $236.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $246.39. The firm has a market cap of $29.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Equifax Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $159.95 and a fifty-two week high of $275.10.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.42% and a return on equity of 19.08%. The company’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.43 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.37 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. Equifax’s payout ratio is presently 34.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In related news, Director Karen L. Fichuk purchased 415 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $238.77 per share, with a total value of $99,089.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $789,134.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Karen L. Fichuk acquired 415 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $238.77 per share, for a total transaction of $99,089.55. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,305 shares in the company, valued at $789,134.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,300 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total value of $13,143,735.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,623,649. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 83,635 shares of company stock valued at $18,969,282 in the last 90 days. 1.66% of the stock is currently 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.