Prana Capital Management LP Purchases New Shares in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Prana Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 34,770 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $8,861,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Equifax by 39.0% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 10,843 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $2,775,000 after purchasing an additional 3,043 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its position in Equifax by 2.8% in the third 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. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Equifax by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,585 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $404,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter worth $3,572,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Equifax by 95.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,617,574 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $412,239,000 after buying an additional 791,730 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. BNP Paribas downgraded Equifax from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $260.00 price target (down previously from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded Equifax to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $292.00.

Equifax Stock Down 1.9%

EFX traded down $5.20 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $275.34. 632,604 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,072,228. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Equifax Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $199.98 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $244.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $252.63. The stock has a market cap of $34.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.05, 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 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. 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. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Equifax's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Equifax's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The stock was 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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total value of $518,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,887,101.60. The trade was a 2.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.