Bridgewater Advisors Inc. Purchases New Position in Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Bridgewater Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,522 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $394,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of EFX. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in Equifax by 1,920.0% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 101 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in Equifax during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Colonial Trust Co SC grew its holdings in Equifax by 505.0% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 121 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. City Holding Co. acquired a new position in shares of Equifax in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Equifax in the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $260.00 price target (down previously from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, April 4th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Equifax from $306.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Equifax in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Seven investment 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equifax has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $295.50.

Equifax Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of Equifax stock traded up $1.89 during trading on Friday, hitting $263.31. 764,773 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 991,262. The stock has a market cap of $32.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.85, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.60. 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 twelve month low of $199.98 and a twelve month high of $309.63. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $264.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $253.20.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 18.81% and a net margin of 10.68%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Equifax, Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the business's 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 142,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,539,980.95. The trade was a 13.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total value of $518,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

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.