Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) saw a significant growth in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,480,000 shares, a growth of 13.2% from the October 15th total of 2,190,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 917,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Insider Transactions at Equifax

In other news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total transaction of $272,920.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. This trade represents a 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total value of $15,770,648.96. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EFX. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Equifax by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,045,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,757,425,000 after acquiring an additional 342,170 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,033,448 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,754,228,000 after purchasing an additional 137,961 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Equifax by 1.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,816,186 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,415,284,000 after purchasing an additional 52,489 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Equifax by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,276,798 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,036,952,000 after buying an additional 200,665 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in Equifax by 37.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $950,268,000 after buying an additional 880,162 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on EFX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Equifax from $300.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. UBS Group began coverage on Equifax in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $360.00 price target on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Equifax currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.47.

Equifax Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Equifax stock traded down $0.83 on Monday, reaching $247.44. 148,518 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 859,760. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Equifax has a fifty-two week low of $204.16 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.59. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $282.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $267.55.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.76 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Equifax will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

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

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.