Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. Invests $236,000 in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 804 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Equifax by 76,913.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Equifax by 72.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,514,093 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $405,051,000 after acquiring an additional 633,887 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 2.5% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,045,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,757,425,000 after buying an additional 342,170 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 4.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 200,665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC boosted its position in Equifax by 127.1% during 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Trading Down 5.4 %

Shares of NYSE:EFX opened at $248.18 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.59. Equifax Inc. has a 1 year low of $197.13 and a 1 year high of $309.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $282.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $266.90.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. Equifax’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.76 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equifax news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total value of $272,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,075,535.48. This represents a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the company’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 transaction of $15,770,648.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 109,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,532,909.67. This trade represents a 34.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EFX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a report on Monday, October 28th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Equifax from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.47.

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.