Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Purchased by Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 2.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,044,561 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 70,091 shares during the quarter. Equifax makes up 1.8% of Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $738,184,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Conning Inc. lifted its holdings in Equifax by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 848 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $206,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Equifax by 1.2% in the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 3,726 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $903,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Equifax by 0.3% in the second quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,464 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,749,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in Equifax by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,038 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Equifax by 76.1% during the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.85, for a total transaction of $845,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,875 shares in the company, valued at $3,065,118.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on EFX. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Equifax from $273.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Equifax from $255.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $302.06.

Equifax Stock Performance

NYSE EFX opened at $299.09 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $287.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $259.31. Equifax Inc. has a 12-month low of $159.95 and a 12-month high of $309.63. The company has a market cap of $36.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.61, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.58.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.09. Equifax had a net margin of 10.67% and a return on equity of 18.88%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.71 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.74%.

Equifax Company 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.