Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Sold by Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC

Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC decreased its position in Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 15.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 130,881 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 23,024 shares during the period. Equifax comprises 2.6% of Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Equifax worth $31,877,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Equifax in the 4th quarter worth $330,400,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 945,988 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Equifax by 24,315.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 696,094 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $169,541,000 after buying an additional 693,243 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Equifax by 15.6% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 679,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its stake in Equifax by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,228,741 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $313,213,000 after buying an additional 187,460 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on EFX. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Equifax from $277.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $260.00 target price (down from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. BNP Paribas cut 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. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $295.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, June 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $295.50.

Insider Transactions at Equifax

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 completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the company'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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 142,395 shares in the company, valued at $36,539,980.95. This trade 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 Down 2.4%

Shares of NYSE:EFX traded down $6.29 on Friday, hitting $258.71. 530,837 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 990,326. The firm's 50-day moving average is $264.66 and its 200 day moving average is $253.09. The company has a market capitalization of $32.13 billion, a PE ratio of 52.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.60. 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 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 18.81%. Sell-side analysts predict that Equifax, Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

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

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.