Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Sells 1,900 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt decreased its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 68.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 877 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 1,900 shares during the quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt's holdings in Equifax were worth $213,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EFX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Equifax by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,389,505 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $3,667,165,000 after purchasing an additional 135,009 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted 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 valued at $1,281,340,000 after buying an additional 679,688 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 0.4% during 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Equifax by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,957,204 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $751,645,000 after acquiring an additional 71,543 shares during the period. Finally, Cantillon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Equifax by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,835,102 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $467,676,000 after acquiring an additional 9,702 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EFX. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Equifax from $277.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. BNP Paribas downgraded Equifax from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $260.00 target price (down previously from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Equifax to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $293.75.

Insider Activity 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 stock was sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total value 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. The trade was a 2.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $5,686,477.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 142,395 shares in the company, valued at $36,539,980.95. The trade was 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 corporate insiders.

Equifax Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of Equifax stock traded down $2.16 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $269.34. The company had a trading volume of 155,707 shares, compared to its average volume of 973,048. Equifax Inc. has a 52-week low of $199.98 and a 52-week high of $309.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a 50 day moving average of $252.88 and a 200 day moving average of $253.36.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Equifax's dividend 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.