Welch Group LLC Buys New Shares in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Welch Group LLC bought a new stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 831 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Weitz Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Equifax by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. now owns 153,500 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $37,959,000 after buying an additional 7,500 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in Equifax by 2.7% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC acquired a new position in Equifax during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,274,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Equifax by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 102,136 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $25,257,000 after buying an additional 14,629 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Novak & Powell Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Equifax during the fourth quarter worth approximately $972,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total transaction of $13,143,735.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,220 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,623,649. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total transaction of $13,143,735.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,220 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,623,649. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP James M. Griggs sold 2,410 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.60, for a total value of $575,026.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 5,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,193,238.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 83,635 shares of company stock worth $18,969,282 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on EFX. Bank of America lowered their price target on Equifax from $300.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $305.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Equifax from $291.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Equifax from $275.00 to $260.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Equifax from $290.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equifax currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $270.19.

Equifax Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE EFX opened at $239.77 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $235.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $245.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Equifax Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $159.95 and a fifty-two week high of $275.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.64 billion, a PE ratio of 53.40, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.57.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.06. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.08% and a net margin of 10.42%. The firm had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.43 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

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

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.