M&T Bank Corp Sells 1,606 Shares of Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

M&T Bank Corp cut its stake in Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 8.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,020 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 1,606 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Equifax were worth $4,389,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Equifax by 49.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Equifax by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,585 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $404,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at $28,585,000. Amundi lifted its holdings in Equifax by 40.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 197,846 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $49,088,000 after acquiring an additional 57,164 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in Equifax by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 46,989 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $11,975,000 after acquiring an additional 6,103 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on EFX shares. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Equifax in a research report on Thursday. They set a "market perform" rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $295.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, June 20th. Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $260.00 price target (down from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, April 4th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Equifax from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Equifax from $277.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equifax has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $295.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of Equifax 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 142,395 shares of the company's stock, valued at $36,539,980.95. This trade represents a 13.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was 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 owned 65,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,887,101.60. This trade represents a 2.98% 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 Price Performance

EFX traded down $6.29 on Friday, hitting $258.71. 530,837 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 990,326. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $264.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $253.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Equifax, Inc. has a one year low of $199.98 and a one year high of $309.63. The firm has a market cap of $32.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.60.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.08. Equifax had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 18.81%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Equifax, Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 23rd. This is a boost from Equifax's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Equifax's payout ratio is currently 40.90%.

About Equifax

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.