Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Short Interest Down 8.5% in November

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,270,000 shares, a drop of 8.5% from the October 31st total of 2,480,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,020,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $29,532,909.67. This represents a 34.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total value of $143,474.89. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,045,781.83. This trade represents a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 59,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,187,044 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 26,675 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,916,000 after buying an additional 2,085 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 85.8% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 37,902 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,904,000 after acquiring an additional 17,501 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 183.0% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 17,015 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,552,000 after buying an additional 11,002 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Equifax by 23.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,365 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,241,000 after acquiring an additional 2,499 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Equifax in the second quarter worth about $15,646,000. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EFX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a report on Monday, October 28th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Equifax in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $360.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Equifax from $315.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $306.74.

Equifax Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Equifax stock traded down $2.57 during trading on Monday, hitting $258.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 295,019 shares, compared to its average volume of 873,429. Equifax has a 52 week low of $213.02 and a 52 week high of $309.63. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $273.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $268.77. The company has a market capitalization of $32.10 billion, a PE ratio of 58.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.59. 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 (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. Equifax’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.76 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Equifax will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

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