Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Purchased by Tortoise Investment Management LLC

Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 76.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 125 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Tortoise Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $30,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Equifax by 1.1% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 292,914 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $78,360,000 after purchasing an additional 3,164 shares during the period. Weitz Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. now owns 153,500 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $37,959,000 after buying an additional 7,500 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $917,000. Bridgefront Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at $1,274,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Equifax by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 102,136 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $25,257,000 after buying an additional 14,629 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Equifax

In other Equifax news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.85, for a total transaction of $845,550.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,065,118.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Equifax Price Performance

NYSE:EFX opened at $302.44 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a 50-day moving average of $274.53 and a 200-day moving average of $256.45. Equifax Inc. has a 52 week low of $159.95 and a 52 week high of $308.54. The company has a market capitalization of $37.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.36, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.56.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.67% and a return on equity of 18.88%. Equifax’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Equifax’s payout ratio is 34.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on EFX shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Equifax from $272.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America raised their price target on Equifax from $255.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Equifax from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Equifax in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. Four equities 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 company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.00.

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.