Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Increases Stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 84.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,662 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,217 shares during the quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC's holdings in Equifax were worth $648,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Equifax during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in Equifax by 1,920.0% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 101 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Equifax during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Colonial Trust Co SC grew its position in Equifax by 505.0% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 121 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management grew its position in Equifax by 98.7% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 151 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EFX. Argus lowered shares of Equifax from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Equifax from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Equifax in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $260.00 price target (down from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $294.44.

Equifax Stock Performance

EFX opened at $265.94 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The company has a market cap of $33.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.06, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.68. The company's 50 day moving average is $249.94 and its 200 day moving average is $252.80. Equifax Inc. has a 12-month low of $199.98 and a 12-month high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last released its 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 net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.41 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Equifax's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. Equifax's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 65,176 shares in the company, valued at $16,887,101.60. This trade represents a 2.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $5,686,477.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 142,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,539,980.95. The trade was a 13.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Equifax 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.

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