Woodline Partners LP Takes Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 7,444 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,897,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Equifax by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 184,890 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $54,329,000 after acquiring an additional 5,097 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Equifax by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 658,438 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $193,489,000 after acquiring an additional 50,680 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in Equifax by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 39,048 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $9,952,000 after acquiring an additional 2,069 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in Equifax by 4.2% during 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. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the 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 approximately $36,539,980.95. This trade represents a 13.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total value of $518,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 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. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on EFX shares. Argus downgraded Equifax from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Equifax from $288.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. BNP Paribas downgraded Equifax from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $295.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $260.00 price objective (down from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $294.44.

Equifax Stock Down 0.0%

Equifax stock traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $263.05. The stock had a trading volume of 134,970 shares, compared to its average volume of 970,337. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market cap of $32.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.68. Equifax Inc. has a 12 month low of $199.98 and a 12 month high of $309.63. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $247.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $252.57.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. Research analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Equifax's dividend payout ratio 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.