Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Sold by Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec reduced its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 26.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,905 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 3,595 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec's holdings in Equifax were worth $2,524,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EFX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Equifax by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,389,505 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,667,165,000 after purchasing an additional 135,009 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 15.6% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 679,688 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Equifax by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,123,701 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $796,075,000 after acquiring an additional 11,861 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Equifax by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,957,204 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $751,645,000 after acquiring an additional 71,543 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cantillon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Equifax by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,835,102 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $467,676,000 after acquiring an additional 9,702 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Equifax Stock Up 1.6 %

Equifax stock traded up $4.16 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $266.34. The company had a trading volume of 749,688 shares, compared to its average volume of 964,132. The business has a fifty day moving average of $239.39 and a 200 day moving average of $252.60. Equifax Inc. has a 1 year low of $199.98 and a 1 year high of $309.63. 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 stock has a market cap of $33.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.14, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.68.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.08. The firm 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 expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors 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 yield of 0.75%. This is a boost from Equifax's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Equifax's dividend payout ratio is presently 40.90%.

Insider Transactions at Equifax

In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.61, for a total value of $5,686,477.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 142,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,539,980.95. This represents a 13.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on EFX shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $295.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Equifax from $313.00 to $284.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.