NorthRock Partners LLC Buys New Shares in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

NorthRock Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,631 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $416,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Greenleaf Trust lifted its position in Equifax by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 1,702 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $434,000 after purchasing an additional 37 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 valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its position in Equifax by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 817 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $208,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Equifax by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 879 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Equifax by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 799 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $204,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equifax news, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total transaction of $518,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,176 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,887,101.60. This represents a 2.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value of $5,686,477.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 142,395 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $36,539,980.95. The trade was a 13.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Equifax Stock Down 1.3%

NYSE EFX traded down $3.71 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $276.83. 1,288,469 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 967,691. Equifax Inc. has a one year low of $199.98 and a one year high of $309.63. 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 50-day moving average is $244.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $252.63. The company has a market capitalization of $34.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.68.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. This is an increase from Equifax's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Equifax's dividend payout ratio is 40.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EFX. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Gordon Haskett raised Equifax to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $260.00 price target (down from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $292.00.

About Equifax

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.