Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Bought by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 72.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,514,093 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 633,887 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in Equifax were worth $405,051,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EFX. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its holdings in Equifax by 1,740.8% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,085,879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $515,817,000 after buying an additional 1,972,564 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at $204,218,000. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in Equifax during the 4th quarter worth about $154,667,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new position in Equifax in the 4th quarter valued at about $126,794,000. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its stake in Equifax by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,045,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,757,425,000 after purchasing an additional 342,170 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Equifax from $246.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Equifax in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Equifax from $273.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Equifax from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equifax currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $287.00.

Equifax Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE EFX traded up $2.44 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $274.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 127,296 shares, compared to its average volume of 816,556. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Equifax Inc. has a 52-week low of $159.95 and a 52-week high of $276.69. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $244.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $247.89.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.09. Equifax had a net margin of 10.67% and a return on equity of 18.88%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.71 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.34 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.74%.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other news, Director Karen L. Fichuk bought 415 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $238.77 per share, with a total value of $99,089.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $789,134.85. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Equifax news, Director Karen L. Fichuk bought 415 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $238.77 per share, for a total transaction of $99,089.55. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $789,134.85. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Carla Chaney sold 5,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $1,235,626.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,029,028.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,238 shares of company stock worth $2,647,378. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.