Rafferty Asset Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,292 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,024 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Equifax were worth $3,133,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. Greenleaf Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 1,702 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $434,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 1,012 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 817 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $208,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 879 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 799 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $204,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EFX traded down $0.91 during trading on Friday, hitting $262.50. The company had a trading volume of 660,019 shares, compared to its average volume of 973,798. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $246.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $252.70. Equifax Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $199.98 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.68. 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 (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.08. The firm 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This is a positive change from Equifax's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. Equifax's payout ratio is presently 40.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the business'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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the business'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 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on EFX shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Equifax from $288.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Argus cut Equifax from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. BNP Paribas cut Equifax from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, March 14th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $295.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $260.00 price target (down previously from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, April 4th. Five equities research 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $294.44.

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.