Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Position Increased by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 50.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 106,362 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 35,863 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.09% of Equifax worth $25,906,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EFX. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in Equifax by 75.4% during the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,442 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $595,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Equifax by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,366 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $333,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Equifax by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 291,520 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $71,003,000 after acquiring an additional 4,894 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 66.2% during the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Equifax Trading Up 0.3%

EFX stock traded up $0.88 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $262.30. 98,183 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 990,051. The company has a market capitalization of $32.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.64, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Equifax, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $199.98 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $264.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $253.14.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $1.41 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Equifax, Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. 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 0.76%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 23rd. Equifax's payout ratio is presently 40.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total value 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. The trade was a 2.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The stock was 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 owned 142,395 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $36,539,980.95. This trade represents a 13.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on EFX shares. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Equifax in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Equifax from $306.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $260.00 price target (down from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, April 4th. Seven investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equifax has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $295.50.

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.