Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Stake Boosted by Balyasny Asset Management L.P.

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 707.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 111,469 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 97,657 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. owned 0.09% of Equifax worth $28,408,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $330,400,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Equifax by 95.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,617,574 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $412,239,000 after purchasing an additional 791,730 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Equifax by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,027,817 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,281,340,000 after purchasing an additional 679,688 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Equifax in the 4th quarter valued at $113,896,000. Finally, Boston Partners raised its position in Equifax by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,228,741 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $313,213,000 after purchasing an additional 187,460 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EFX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America assumed coverage on Equifax in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $280.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Equifax to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Five equities research 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Equifax currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $292.00.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EFX traded down $1.34 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $269.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 795,234 shares, compared to its average volume of 965,417. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.75. Equifax Inc. has a 1-year low of $199.98 and a 1-year high of $309.63. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $240.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $252.55. The firm has a market cap of $33.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.68.

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

Equifax Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. This is a positive change from Equifax's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Equifax's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total value of $518,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,176 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,887,101.60. This represents a 2.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 142,395 shares in the company, valued at $36,539,980.95. This trade represents a 13.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

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.