Handelsbanken Fonder AB Has $9.59 Million Stock Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 7.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,388 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,686 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Equifax were worth $9,593,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Equifax by 44.2% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,229 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,274,000 after acquiring an additional 1,602 shares during the period. Olstein Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 15.4% during the first quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 15,000 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $3,653,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. City Holding Co. bought a new position in shares of Equifax during the first quarter worth $34,000. Portside Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 11.4% during the first quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,675 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toth Financial Advisory Corp boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 1.1% during the first quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 33,153 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $8,075,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Equifax Stock Down 1.9%

NYSE:EFX traded down $5.18 on Friday, hitting $263.79. 663,575 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 974,952. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $255.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $253.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Equifax Inc. has a 52 week low of $199.98 and a 52 week high of $309.63. The company has a market cap of $32.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.63.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. As a group, analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 23rd. This is a positive change from Equifax's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Equifax's payout ratio is currently 40.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on EFX. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Equifax in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $280.00 price target on the stock. BNP Paribas cut shares of Equifax from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Equifax from $288.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $295.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $293.75.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 142,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,539,980.95. This represents a 13.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,887,101.60. This trade represents a 2.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company 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.