Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Has $2.27 Million Stock Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 22.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,900 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,631 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Equifax were worth $2,268,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,389,505 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,667,165,000 after purchasing an additional 135,009 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Equifax by 15.6% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Equifax by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,123,701 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $796,075,000 after acquiring an additional 11,861 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Equifax by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,957,204 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $751,645,000 after acquiring an additional 71,543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cantillon Capital Management LLC increased its position in Equifax by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,835,102 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $467,676,000 after acquiring an additional 9,702 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on EFX shares. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $260.00 target price (down previously from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equifax presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $292.00.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EFX traded up $3.87 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $264.48. 788,991 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 964,476. Equifax Inc. has a 1-year low of $199.98 and a 1-year high of $309.63. The company has a market cap of $32.85 billion, a PE ratio of 54.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $237.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $253.19.

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

Equifax Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Equifax

In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the business'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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.