Ballentine Partners LLC Acquires 139 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Ballentine Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,177 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EFX. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Equifax during the first quarter worth about $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Equifax in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 76.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Equifax by 138.2% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 131 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of EFX opened at $297.97 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.58. Equifax Inc. has a 52 week low of $159.95 and a 52 week high of $308.54. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $280.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $257.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.88% and a net margin of 10.67%. Equifax’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.71 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on EFX shares. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Equifax from $255.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Equifax from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Equifax from $273.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Equifax from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Equifax from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.00.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other Equifax news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.85, for a total value of $845,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,065,118.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.57% of the stock is owned by 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.