Short Interest in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Declines By 8.8%

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,070,000 shares, a decrease of 8.8% from the November 15th total of 2,270,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,020,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total transaction of $15,770,648.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,532,909.67. This represents a 34.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total value of $272,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. This trade represents a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 59,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,187,044. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equifax

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 76,913.8% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 960,362 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $282,212,000 after buying an additional 959,115 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Equifax by 37.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $950,268,000 after purchasing an additional 880,162 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 34.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 863,718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $251,480,000 after buying an additional 220,109 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Equifax by 4.9% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,276,798 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,036,952,000 after buying an additional 200,665 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 127.1% in the second quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 350,356 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $84,947,000 after purchasing an additional 196,106 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EFX traded up $0.15 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $273.65. The company had a trading volume of 1,878,381 shares, compared to its average volume of 879,669. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $267.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $270.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. Equifax has a 12 month low of $213.02 and a 12 month high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.01. Equifax had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.76 earnings per share. Equifax’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Equifax will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on EFX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Equifax from $315.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Equifax from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $275.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $311.39.

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.