Cooper Investors PTY Ltd. Acquires 2,371 Shares of Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Cooper Investors PTY Ltd. boosted its stake in Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 13.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,311 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,371 shares during the quarter. Cooper Investors PTY Ltd.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $4,947,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Equifax by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 797 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in shares of Equifax by 260.3% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 4,014 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,023,000 after acquiring an additional 2,900 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Equifax by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 799 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $204,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 1,334.0% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 674 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $172,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Down 0.2%

Equifax stock opened at $255.29 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $259.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $253.10. The stock has a market cap of $31.71 billion, a PE ratio of 52.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.64. 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 0.86, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.81% and a net margin of 10.68%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Equifax, Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 23rd. This is a positive change from Equifax’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Equifax’s payout ratio is currently 40.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on EFX shares. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $260.00 price objective (down from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $305.00 target price (up from $295.00) on shares of Equifax in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Equifax from $277.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Equifax from $277.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $294.94.

Insider Activity

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

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.