DAVENPORT & Co LLC Boosts Stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,975 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $503,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equifax during the third quarter worth $29,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equifax during the third quarter worth $48,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Equifax during the third quarter worth $73,000. Finally, Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of Equifax during the third quarter worth $85,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Performance

EFX opened at $248.59 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.81 billion, a PE ratio of 55.24, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.58. Equifax Inc. has a twelve month low of $213.02 and a twelve month high of $309.63. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $261.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $274.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12. Equifax had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. Equifax’s payout ratio is presently 34.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equifax news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total transaction of $143,474.89. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,045,781.83. The trade was a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.66% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on EFX. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. BNP Paribas raised shares of Equifax from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $300.71.

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.