Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Buys Shares of 109,726 Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 109,726 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $27,964,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned about 0.09% of Equifax at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Greenleaf Trust increased 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 worth $434,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC increased 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 worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased 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 worth $208,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Integrated Advisors Network LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 1,595 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $406,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its position in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Equifax from $288.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Argus lowered shares of Equifax from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of Equifax in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equifax presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $294.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In related news, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $16,887,101.60. The trade was a 2.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available 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 value of $5,686,477.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 142,395 shares of the company's stock, valued at $36,539,980.95. This represents a 13.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Equifax Trading Down 1.1%

EFX stock traded down $3.03 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $261.16. 575,550 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 974,666. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Equifax Inc. has a 52-week low of $199.98 and a 52-week high of $309.63. The company has a market cap of $32.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.68. The stock's fifty day moving average is $248.56 and its 200-day moving average is $252.48.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.08. Equifax had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This is an increase from Equifax's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Equifax's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.