Thompson Investment Management Inc. Purchases 67 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Thompson Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,594 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 67 shares during the quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $3,974,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EFX. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Equifax by 76,913.8% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 960,362 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $282,212,000 after acquiring an additional 959,115 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Equifax by 37.4% in the third 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 period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position 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 valued at $251,480,000 after purchasing an additional 220,109 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Equifax by 5,123.0% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 115,114 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $33,827,000 after acquiring an additional 112,910 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Equifax by 13.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 767,136 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $225,431,000 after acquiring an additional 88,895 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equifax news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total value of $143,474.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,045,781.83. This represents a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Equifax Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Equifax stock opened at $248.59 on Friday. Equifax Inc. has a 52-week low of $213.02 and a 52-week high of $309.63. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $261.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $274.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.12. Equifax had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Equifax’s payout ratio is 32.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on EFX shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $300.71.

About Equifax

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.