GAMMA Investing LLC Boosts Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 24,315.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 696,094 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 693,243 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC owned 0.56% of Equifax worth $169,541,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Equifax by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,389,505 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,667,165,000 after purchasing an additional 135,009 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of 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 holdings in shares of Equifax by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,123,701 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $796,075,000 after purchasing an additional 11,861 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,957,204 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $751,645,000 after purchasing an additional 71,543 shares during the period. Finally, Cantillon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,835,102 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $467,676,000 after purchasing an additional 9,702 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EFX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Equifax in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Equifax from $277.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Gordon Haskett raised Equifax to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut Equifax from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equifax has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $294.44.

Equifax Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of Equifax stock traded up $4.23 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $267.70. 436,072 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 973,176. Equifax Inc. has a 52-week low of $199.98 and a 52-week high of $309.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $248.96 and a 200-day moving average of $252.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.68.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This is a boost from Equifax's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Equifax's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.90%.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other Equifax news, 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 transaction of $518,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,176 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,887,101.60. This trade represents a 2.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $5,686,477.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 142,395 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 owned by insiders.

Equifax Company 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.