Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 593 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Retirement Systems of Alabama decreased its holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 27,155 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 593 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Equifax were worth $6,715,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 19.9% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 5,657 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,036,000 after buying an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Equifax by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 199,371 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $36,521,000 after acquiring an additional 3,562 shares in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax in the third quarter valued at about $134,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 7.1% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 39,418 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,221,000 after purchasing an additional 2,596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio boosted its holdings in Equifax by 38.9% during the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 6,695 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,226,000 after purchasing an additional 1,876 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other news, EVP Rodolfo O. Ploder sold 14,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total value of $3,178,168.65. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 75,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,126,083.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Rodolfo O. Ploder sold 14,097 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total transaction of $3,178,168.65. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 75,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,126,083.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total value of $13,143,735.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,623,649. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:EFX opened at $227.05 on Friday. Equifax Inc. has a 1 year low of $159.95 and a 1 year high of $275.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $250.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $234.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $28.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.54.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.06. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.08% and a net margin of 10.42%. The business had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.36 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 23rd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on EFX. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Equifax from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Equifax from $275.00 to $260.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Equifax from $291.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Equifax from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $210.00 to $310.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $270.19.

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.