Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Acquired by Burt Wealth Advisors

Burt Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 37.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,520 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 417 shares during the quarter. Burt Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Equifax were worth $370,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EFX. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Equifax during the 4th quarter worth about $330,400,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 7,883,233.3% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 946,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $241,087,000 after buying an additional 945,988 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 24,315.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 696,094 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $169,541,000 after buying an additional 693,243 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,027,817 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,281,340,000 after buying an additional 679,688 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter worth about $113,896,000. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equifax Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of Equifax stock opened at $255.31 on Friday. Equifax, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $199.98 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63. The firm has a market cap of $31.71 billion, a PE ratio of 52.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.63. The business’s fifty day moving average is $259.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $253.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.81% and a net margin of 10.68%. Analysts anticipate that Equifax, Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd were given a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Equifax’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 23rd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EFX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BNP Paribas cut Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $305.00 target price (up previously from $295.00) on shares of Equifax in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $260.00 target price (down previously from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Equifax from $277.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a research report on Wednesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $294.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.