AQR Capital Management LLC Acquires 103,631 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 1,933.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 108,992 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 103,631 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Equifax worth $27,777,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 2.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 184,890 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $54,329,000 after acquiring an additional 5,097 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in Equifax by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 5,872 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,726,000 after purchasing an additional 855 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its stake in Equifax by 23.0% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,184 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,817,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Equifax by 34.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 863,718 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $251,480,000 after buying an additional 220,109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Equifax by 6.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 147,448 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $43,329,000 after buying an additional 8,500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Equifax Price Performance

Equifax stock opened at $264.48 on Friday. Equifax Inc. has a 52 week low of $199.98 and a 52 week high of $309.63. The company's 50 day moving average price is $238.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $252.76. The stock has a market cap of $32.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.76, 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.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 is an increase from Equifax's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Equifax's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EFX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Gordon Haskett upgraded Equifax to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $295.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America initiated coverage on Equifax in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $280.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $260.00 target price (down from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, April 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $292.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.61, for a total transaction of $5,686,477.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 142,395 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $36,539,980.95. This represents a 13.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

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.

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