Freestone Grove Partners LP Makes New Investment in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,269 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,598,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in shares of Equifax during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Spire Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 98.7% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 151 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new position in shares of Equifax in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in Equifax during the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on EFX shares. Argus downgraded shares of Equifax from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $295.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $260.00 price objective (down from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equifax presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $292.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 142,395 shares in the company, valued at $36,539,980.95. The trade was a 13.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Equifax Trading Up 0.1 %

EFX stock traded up $0.32 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $262.67. 596,141 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 964,051. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.68. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $238.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $252.43. Equifax Inc. has a 1 year low of $199.98 and a 1 year high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.41 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Equifax's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Equifax's payout ratio is currently 40.90%.

Equifax 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.