Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Bought by UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 12.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 846,053 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 90,759 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned 0.68% of Equifax worth $215,617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Equifax by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,389,505 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $3,667,165,000 after purchasing an additional 135,009 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Equifax by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,027,817 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,281,340,000 after purchasing an additional 679,688 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its position in Equifax by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,123,701 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $796,075,000 after purchasing an additional 11,861 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Equifax by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,957,204 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $751,645,000 after purchasing an additional 71,543 shares during the period. Finally, Cantillon Capital Management LLC increased its position in Equifax by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,835,102 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $467,676,000 after purchasing an additional 9,702 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Equifax Price Performance

EFX stock traded up $4.63 on Wednesday, reaching $263.02. The company had a trading volume of 252,856 shares, compared to its average volume of 971,831. Equifax Inc. has a 1 year low of $199.98 and a 1 year high of $309.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company's fifty day moving average is $247.04 and its 200 day moving average is $252.56. The company has a market cap of $32.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.51, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.68.

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

Equifax Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. 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%. Equifax's payout ratio is 40.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EFX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Equifax from $288.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group decreased their price target on Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Gordon Haskett raised Equifax to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Five 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,887,101.60. The trade was a 2.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 of the company's stock, 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.

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.