NorthRock Partners LLC Acquires New Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

NorthRock Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 1,631 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $416,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Equifax by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,389,505 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,667,165,000 after purchasing an additional 135,009 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Equifax by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,027,817 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,281,340,000 after purchasing an additional 679,688 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its position in Equifax by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,123,701 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $796,075,000 after purchasing an additional 11,861 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Equifax by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,957,204 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $751,645,000 after purchasing an additional 71,543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cantillon Capital Management LLC grew its position in Equifax by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,835,102 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $467,676,000 after purchasing an additional 9,702 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equifax Stock Performance

EFX opened at $278.84 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The company has a market cap of $34.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.73, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.68. The company’s 50 day moving average is $243.28 and its 200 day moving average is $252.72. Equifax Inc. has a 12-month low of $199.98 and a 12-month high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. This is an increase from Equifax’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Equifax’s payout ratio is currently 40.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other Equifax news, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total transaction of $518,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,887,101.60. The trade was a 2.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.61, for a total transaction of $5,686,477.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 142,395 shares in the company, valued at $36,539,980.95. This represents a 13.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Equifax presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $292.00.

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.