Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Buys 4,894 Shares of Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 1.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 291,520 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,894 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.23% of Equifax worth $71,003,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 2,212 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $539,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 1,464.7% in the 1st quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 18,119 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $4,413,000 after acquiring an additional 16,961 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,585 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $404,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 1.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America cut Equifax from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $300.00 to $285.00 in a report on Monday, June 23rd. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Equifax in a report on Thursday. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $280.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Equifax from $277.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $260.00 price target (down previously from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $305.00 price objective (up from $295.00) on shares of Equifax in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $295.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 stock was sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total value of $518,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 65,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,887,101.60. This trade represents a 2.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 stock was sold at an average price of $256.61, for a total value of $5,686,477.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 142,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,539,980.95. This 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 company insiders.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of Equifax stock opened at $258.71 on Friday. 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 business's 50 day simple moving average is $264.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $253.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.60. 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 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. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for 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%. Analysts forecast that Equifax, Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were given a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Equifax's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 23rd. Equifax's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.90%.

About Equifax

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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