Cerity Partners LLC Has $3.49 Million Stock Holdings in Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Cerity Partners LLC decreased its position in Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 10.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,329 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 1,746 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Equifax were worth $3,490,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in EFX. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its position in Equifax by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 2,212 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $539,000 after buying an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in Equifax by 1,464.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 16,961 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Equifax during the 1st quarter valued at about $209,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Equifax by 19.9% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,611 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Equifax by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,817 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $973,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $305.00 target price (up from $295.00) on shares of Equifax in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Equifax from $306.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Equifax in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. Finally, 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 research note on Monday, June 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $295.50.

Equifax Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of EFX traded up $1.89 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $263.31. 764,773 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 991,261. The company has a market cap of $32.70 billion, a PE ratio of 53.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.60. Equifax, Inc. has a 52 week low of $199.98 and a 52 week high of $309.63. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $264.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $253.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.41 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 18.81%. On average, research analysts forecast that Equifax, Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 23rd. This is an increase from Equifax's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Equifax's dividend payout ratio is presently 40.90%.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $36,539,980.95. This represents a 13.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total value of $518,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 65,176 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,887,101.60. The trade was a 2.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

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.