Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Invests $235,000 in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC bought a new position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 800 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $235,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. Conning Inc. grew its holdings in Equifax by 4.7% during the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 848 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $206,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Equifax by 1.2% during the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 3,726 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $903,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Thompson Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Equifax by 0.3% during the second quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,464 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,749,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust grew its holdings in Equifax by 3.0% during the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 1,665 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $489,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in Equifax by 5.1% in the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,038 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other Equifax news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.85, for a total value of $845,550.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,065,118.75. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Price Performance

EFX stock traded up $1.52 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $273.61. 231,016 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 848,207. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $294.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $263.32. Equifax Inc. has a 1-year low of $159.95 and a 1-year high of $309.63. The company has a market cap of $33.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.60, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.01. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.88% and a net margin of 10.67%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.76 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. Equifax’s payout ratio is 34.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EFX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Equifax from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.47.

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.