Select Equity Group L.P. Buys Shares of 13,410 Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Select Equity Group L.P. bought a new stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 13,410 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,418,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 135,009 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 679,688 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 11,861 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 valued at $751,645,000 after buying an additional 71,543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cantillon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Equifax by 0.5% during 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 buying an additional 9,702 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Equifax

In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the firm'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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,176 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,887,101.60. The trade was a 2.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EFX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Equifax from $313.00 to $284.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Argus lowered shares of Equifax from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Equifax in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $280.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $260.00 target price (down previously from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $292.00.

Equifax Stock Down 1.3%

NYSE:EFX traded down $3.71 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $276.83. The stock had a trading volume of 1,288,469 shares, compared to its average volume of 969,439. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Equifax Inc. has a 1-year low of $199.98 and a 1-year high of $309.63. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $244.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $252.63. The company has a market cap of $34.38 billion, a PE 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 announced its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. Analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. This is an increase from Equifax's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Equifax's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.90%.

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.