Bank of New York Mellon Corp Purchases 46,505 Shares of Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 4.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,098,718 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 46,505 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.88% of Equifax worth $267,604,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Equifax in the 4th quarter worth approximately $330,400,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Equifax by 7,883,233.3% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 946,000 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $241,087,000 after acquiring an additional 945,988 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Equifax by 24,315.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 696,094 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $169,541,000 after buying an additional 693,243 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $1,281,340,000 after purchasing an additional 679,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $113,896,000. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EFX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $260.00 target price (down previously from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, April 4th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Equifax from $306.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $295.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $295.19.

Insider Transactions at Equifax

In other Equifax news, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total transaction of $518,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 65,176 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,887,101.60. This trade represents a 2.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 142,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Equifax Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:EFX traded down $1.05 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $263.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 198,835 shares, compared to its average volume of 988,287. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Equifax, Inc. has a 1 year low of $199.98 and a 1 year high of $309.63. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $264.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $252.98. The firm has a market cap of $32.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.60.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.08. Equifax had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 18.81%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. Research analysts forecast that Equifax, Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. This is an increase from Equifax's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 23rd. Equifax's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.90%.

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.