Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Sold by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP trimmed its position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 45.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,637 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 37,465 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP's holdings in Equifax were worth $11,376,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Equifax during the 4th quarter valued at about $330,400,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 7,883,233.3% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 946,000 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $241,087,000 after buying an additional 945,988 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Equifax by 95.9% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,617,574 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $412,239,000 after acquiring an additional 791,730 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Equifax by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,027,817 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,281,340,000 after acquiring an additional 679,688 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Equifax in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $113,896,000. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on EFX shares. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Equifax to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Equifax from $277.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $260.00 target price (down from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $295.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Equifax from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, March 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Equifax currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $294.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 142,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,539,980.95. This trade represents a 13.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,176 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,887,101.60. This trade represents 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 currently owned by insiders.

Equifax Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE:EFX traded down $1.06 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $265.94. The stock had a trading volume of 848,448 shares, compared to its average volume of 975,755. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $249.50 and a 200 day moving average of $252.66. The company has a market capitalization of $33.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.06, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.68. Equifax Inc. has a one year low of $199.98 and a one year high of $309.63. 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 (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.08. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors 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 0.75%. This is a positive change from Equifax's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Equifax's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.