MML Investors Services LLC Trims Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

MML Investors Services LLC reduced its holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 16.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,893 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 2,561 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC's holdings in Equifax were worth $3,286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EFX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $3,667,165,000 after buying an additional 135,009 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Equifax by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,957,204 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $751,645,000 after buying an additional 71,543 shares during the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC raised its position in Equifax by 0.5% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Equifax in the fourth quarter worth $330,400,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 142,395 shares in the company, valued at $36,539,980.95. The trade was a 13.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of EFX traded up $3.76 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $264.37. 274,086 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,118,283. The firm has a market cap of $32.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. 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's 50-day simple moving average is $237.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $253.19. 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This is a boost from Equifax's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. Equifax's payout ratio is 40.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EFX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $260.00 target price (down previously from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target 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. Argus cut Equifax from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, February 7th. Five research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equifax currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $292.00.

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.