Canoe Financial LP Acquires Shares of 1,478 Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Canoe Financial LP bought a new position in shares of Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,478 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $360,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC raised its position in Equifax by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 817 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $208,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC grew its position in Equifax by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 1,595 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $406,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Equifax by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 879 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 799 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $204,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 1,046 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on EFX shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $295.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday. Bank of America lowered shares of Equifax from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $300.00 to $285.00 in a report on Monday. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Equifax from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $294.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of Equifax 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 142,395 shares in the company, valued at $36,539,980.95. The trade was a 13.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 stock was sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 2.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Equifax Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of EFX stock traded up $7.01 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $262.09. The company had a trading volume of 773,421 shares, compared to its average volume of 977,669. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.55 billion, a PE ratio of 53.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.64. The company's fifty day moving average is $259.71 and its 200 day moving average is $253.10. Equifax, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $199.98 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.41 billion. Research analysts expect that Equifax, Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio 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.