Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Purchases 2,948 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 21.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,583 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,948 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Equifax were worth $4,226,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Equifax in the 4th quarter worth $330,400,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 7,883,233.3% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 946,000 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $241,087,000 after purchasing an additional 945,988 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 95.9% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,617,574 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $412,239,000 after purchasing an additional 791,730 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,027,817 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,281,340,000 after purchasing an additional 679,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter worth about $113,896,000. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on EFX shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $295.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Argus downgraded shares of Equifax from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $260.00 price target (down from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Equifax from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, March 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $294.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other Equifax news, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total transaction of $518,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,176 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,887,101.60. The trade was a 2.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 142,395 shares in the company, valued at $36,539,980.95. This represents a 13.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EFX traded down $1.06 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $265.94. 852,643 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 975,757. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.68. 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's 50-day simple moving average is $249.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $252.66. Equifax Inc. has a twelve month low of $199.98 and a twelve month high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.41 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. As a group, research analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Equifax's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Equifax's dividend payout ratio is 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.