Handelsbanken Fonder AB Grows Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 7.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 39,388 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,686 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Equifax were worth $9,593,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EFX. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in Equifax by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,585 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Equifax during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,572,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Equifax by 95.9% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,617,574 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $412,239,000 after purchasing an additional 791,730 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Equifax by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,817 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $973,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 49.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $927,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $305.00 price target (up previously from $295.00) on shares of Equifax in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Equifax in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Equifax from $288.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective (down from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Five equities research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $293.75.

Equifax Price Performance

EFX stock opened at $268.67 on Friday. Equifax Inc. has a 1 year low of $199.98 and a 1 year high of $309.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.37 billion, a PE ratio of 55.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.63. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $254.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $253.40.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.08. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.41 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. This is a positive change from Equifax’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total value of $518,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,887,101.60. The trade was a 2.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,539,980.95. This trade represents a 13.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Equifax 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.