HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Invests $424,000 in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 1,623 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $424,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EFX. Weitz Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. now owns 153,500 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $37,959,000 after purchasing an additional 7,500 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in Equifax by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 330,453 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $81,718,000 after buying an additional 8,668 shares in the last quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Equifax in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,274,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 102,136 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $25,257,000 after buying an additional 14,629 shares during the period. Finally, Novak & Powell Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Equifax during the 4th quarter valued at $972,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EFX has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Equifax from $276.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Equifax from $291.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Equifax from $275.00 to $260.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $270.19.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other Equifax news, EVP Rodolfo O. Ploder sold 14,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total value of $3,178,168.65. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 75,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,126,083.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,300 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total transaction of $13,143,735.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 109,220 shares in the company, valued at $24,623,649. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Rodolfo O. Ploder sold 14,097 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total transaction of $3,178,168.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 75,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,126,083.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 83,635 shares of company stock worth $18,969,282 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.66% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of EFX stock opened at $241.80 on Thursday. Equifax Inc. has a 12 month low of $159.95 and a 12 month high of $275.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $29.89 billion, a PE ratio of 53.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $235.69 and a 200-day moving average of $245.88.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.06. Equifax had a net margin of 10.42% and a return on equity of 19.08%. The business had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.43 earnings per share. Equifax’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.37 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.74%.

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.