Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC Makes New $2.34 Million Investment in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 9,175 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,338,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Greenleaf Trust increased its position in Equifax by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 1,702 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $434,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in Equifax by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 1,012 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $258,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its position in Equifax by 5.6% in the 4th 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. Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Equifax by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 879 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Equifax by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 799 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $204,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Equifax Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of EFX stock traded up $3.75 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $262.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 941,965 shares, compared to its average volume of 974,173. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $247.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $252.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The company has a market cap of $32.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.68. Equifax Inc. has a one year low of $199.98 and a one year high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. Analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This is a positive change from Equifax's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Equifax's payout ratio is currently 40.90%.

Insider Transactions at Equifax

In other Equifax news, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total transaction of $518,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,176 shares of the company's stock, 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 available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 now directly owns 142,395 shares in the company, 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 currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EFX has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Equifax from $288.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $260.00 price target (down previously from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, April 4th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Equifax to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Equifax has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $294.44.

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.