GW&K Investment Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

GW&K Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 97.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,448 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 62,035 shares during the quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC's holdings in Equifax were worth $353,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Integrated Advisors Network LLC increased its position in shares of Equifax by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 1,595 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $406,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,395 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 1,046 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 738 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $180,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on EFX shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Equifax from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $300.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $295.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, June 20th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Equifax from $310.00 to $289.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Equifax from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $285.00.

Equifax Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Equifax stock traded up $0.33 during trading on Thursday, hitting $246.19. The stock had a trading volume of 1,665,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,032,500. Equifax, Inc. has a 12 month low of $199.98 and a 12 month high of $309.63. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $261.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $253.09. The stock has a market cap of $30.48 billion, a PE ratio of 48.18, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The credit services provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.92 by $0.08. Equifax had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 18.89%. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Equifax, Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other Equifax news, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the business's 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 sale, the executive vice president 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.