Bank of Montreal Can Buys 1,748 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 1.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 93,795 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,748 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Equifax were worth $27,237,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equifax during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Equifax by 76.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Equifax in the second quarter worth $30,000. Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Equifax by 138.2% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 131 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Community Trust NA bought a new position in shares of Equifax during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total transaction of $272,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. The trade was a 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total value of $15,770,648.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at $29,532,909.67. The trade was a 34.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,855 shares of company stock worth $16,187,044 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on EFX shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Equifax in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $360.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $306.74.

Equifax Price Performance

EFX opened at $261.56 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $213.02 and a 52-week high of $309.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.42 billion, a PE ratio of 58.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.59. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $274.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $268.38.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.76 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Equifax’s payout ratio is 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.