Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Has $6.13 Million Position in Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 51.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 25,182 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,599 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Equifax were worth $6,134,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EFX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Equifax by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,389,505 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,667,165,000 after acquiring an additional 135,009 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Equifax by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,027,817 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,281,340,000 after acquiring an additional 679,688 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Equifax by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,123,701 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $796,075,000 after acquiring an additional 11,861 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Equifax by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,957,204 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $751,645,000 after acquiring an additional 71,543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cantillon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,835,102 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $467,676,000 after purchasing an additional 9,702 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Equifax Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of EFX opened at $262.09 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $32.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.60, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $260.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $253.16.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.41 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.81% and a net margin of 10.68%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 23rd. This is a positive change from Equifax's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Equifax's payout ratio is currently 40.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on EFX. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $295.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, June 20th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Bank of America lowered shares of Equifax from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $300.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $260.00 price target (down from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $294.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 transaction of $518,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,176 shares in the company, valued at $16,887,101.60. This trade represents a 2.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the company's 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 transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

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