Bessemer Group Inc. Purchases 12,451 Shares of Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 721,606 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 12,451 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. owned approximately 0.58% of Equifax worth $175,754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Equifax by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,585 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Equifax by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,817 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $973,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 19.9% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,611 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 44.2% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,229 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,274,000 after purchasing an additional 1,602 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 49.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total transaction of $518,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,176 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company's stock, 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. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EFX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Equifax from $288.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $295.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $260.00 price objective (down previously from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $294.94.

Equifax Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE EFX traded up $0.21 on Friday, reaching $256.16. The company had a trading volume of 1,976,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 984,525. The company's fifty day moving average is $262.61 and its 200-day moving average is $253.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. Equifax, Inc. has a 1-year low of $199.98 and a 1-year 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.41 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.81% and a net margin of 10.68%. On average, research analysts forecast that Equifax, Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. This is an increase from Equifax's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Equifax's dividend payout ratio is 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.