9,175 Shares in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Purchased by Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC

Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 9,175 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,338,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 39.0% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 10,843 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $2,775,000 after buying an additional 3,043 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Equifax by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 184,890 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $54,329,000 after acquiring an additional 5,097 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Equifax by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,585 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $404,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 4th quarter worth about $3,572,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 95.9% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,617,574 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $412,239,000 after purchasing an additional 791,730 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of EFX opened at $262.43 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.59 billion, a PE ratio of 54.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $238.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $252.43. Equifax Inc. has a 52-week low of $199.98 and a 52-week high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.08. Equifax had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.41 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This is an increase from Equifax's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Equifax's payout ratio is currently 40.90%.

Insider Activity

In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 142,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,539,980.95. The trade was a 13.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on EFX. Gordon Haskett upgraded Equifax to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Equifax in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $292.00.

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.

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