Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Makes New $4.49 Million Investment in Equifax, Inc. $EFX

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 17,510 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,492,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EFX. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $334,521,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Equifax by 1.8% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,966,903 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,881,966,000 after purchasing an additional 258,572 shares during the last quarter. Greenhouse Funds LLLP acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax during the second quarter worth $59,935,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,726,990 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $447,928,000 after buying an additional 140,427 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 326.0% in the 2nd quarter. Man Group plc now owns 172,333 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $44,698,000 after buying an additional 131,882 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EFX has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $245.00 to $234.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Seaport Research Partners raised Equifax to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Equifax from $271.00 to $266.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Equifax from $290.00 to $280.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on Equifax from $285.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $271.14.

Insider Activity

In other Equifax news, EVP Jamil Farshchi sold 4,925 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.94, for a total value of $1,176,779.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,405,634.16. The trade was a 11.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 21,386 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.12, for a total transaction of $4,942,732.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 22,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,095,040.40. This trade represents a 49.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 54,270 shares of company stock worth $12,580,837. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Equifax Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE:EFX opened at $213.81 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $26.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.57, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74. Equifax, Inc. has a 1 year low of $199.98 and a 1 year high of $281.07. The business has a fifty day moving average of $215.21 and a 200-day moving average of $232.42.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The credit services provider reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.10. Equifax had a net margin of 11.08% and a return on equity of 19.28%. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Equifax, Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 24th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 24th. Equifax’s payout ratio is presently 37.95%.

About Equifax

Equifax Inc (NYSE: EFX) is a global data, analytics and technology company that specializes in consumer and commercial credit reporting, decisioning tools and identity solutions. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Equifax is one of the three major consumer credit reporting agencies in the United States and provides credit information and related services to lenders, employers, governments and consumers worldwide.

The company’s offerings include consumer credit reports and scores, credit monitoring and identity protection services, and a range of business-oriented products for risk management, fraud detection and compliance.