Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Acquired by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in shares of Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 1,464.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,119 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 16,961 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Equifax were worth $4,413,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EFX. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 49.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Equifax by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,585 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Equifax by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 7,329 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,868,000 after acquiring an additional 741 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at $28,585,000. Finally, Andra AP fonden acquired a new position in Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at $546,000. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EFX. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $305.00 target price (up from $295.00) on shares of Equifax in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Barclays reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $260.00 price target (down from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Equifax from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $295.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total transaction of $518,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 65,176 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,887,101.60. The trade was 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 Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of EFX stock traded down $6.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $258.71. 530,837 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 989,913. Equifax, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $199.98 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $264.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $253.11. The stock has a market cap of $32.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.91, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.60.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. Equities analysts expect that Equifax, Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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%.

Equifax Company 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.