Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Buys 3,628 Shares of Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 3.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 99,501 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,628 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. owned about 0.08% of Equifax worth $24,234,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in Equifax by 1,920.0% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 101 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its holdings in Equifax by 505.0% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 121 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. City Holding Co. bought a new stake in Equifax in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. bought a new stake in Equifax in the first quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Equifax Stock Down 1.3%

NYSE:EFX opened at $258.31 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $32.08 billion, a PE ratio of 52.82, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.63. Equifax, Inc. has a 52-week low of $199.98 and a 52-week high of $309.63. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $261.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $253.20.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.08. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.81% and a net margin of 10.68%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.41 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Equifax, Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 0.77%. Equifax's dividend payout ratio is 40.90%.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The stock was 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 approximately $36,539,980.95. The trade was a 13.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,176 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,887,101.60. This represents a 2.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Equifax from $277.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Equifax from $277.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Equifax from $288.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $305.00 price target (up from $295.00) on shares of Equifax in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $294.94.

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.

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