North Star Asset Management Inc. Purchases 4,424 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

North Star Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 111,465 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,424 shares during the quarter. Equifax comprises about 1.3% of North Star Asset Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. North Star Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.09% of Equifax worth $28,407,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in shares of Equifax by 1,920.0% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 101 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC grew its holdings in Equifax by 505.0% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 121 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management boosted its position in Equifax by 98.7% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 151 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EFX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Equifax in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Equifax to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. BNP Paribas cut Equifax from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, March 14th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $295.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Argus cut shares of Equifax from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $294.44.

Insider Activity

In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 directly owns 65,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,887,101.60. This represents a 2.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of EFX traded down $1.39 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $260.76. The stock had a trading volume of 129,777 shares, compared to its average volume of 971,661. The company has a market cap of $32.39 billion, a PE ratio of 54.02, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.68. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $247.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $252.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Equifax Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $199.98 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. On average, equities analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Equifax's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Equifax's dividend payout ratio is 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.