Northern Trust Corp Grows Stock Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 10.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,207,225 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 116,524 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 0.97% of Equifax worth $307,661,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake 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 valued at $1,281,340,000 after purchasing an additional 679,688 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Equifax by 0.4% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 11,861 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,957,204 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $751,645,000 after purchasing an additional 71,543 shares during the period. Finally, Cantillon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $467,676,000 after buying an additional 9,702 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of EFX stock traded down $0.38 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $261.97. The company had a trading volume of 121,231 shares, compared to its average volume of 962,194. Equifax Inc. has a 52 week low of $199.98 and a 52 week high of $309.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The stock's 50-day moving average is $238.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $252.43.

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

Equifax Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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%.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 142,395 shares in the company, valued at $36,539,980.95. This trade represents a 13.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $295.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $260.00 target price (down from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Five 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $292.00.

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.