Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Acquires 486 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,818 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 486 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $3,912,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 2,022 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $500,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 1,507 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 793 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $196,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 4,287 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $768,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 17,258 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,268,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equifax Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE EFX traded up $2.55 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $227.05. 730,987 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,140,132. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a market cap of $28.07 billion, a PE ratio of 50.59, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.54. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $250.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $234.11. Equifax Inc. has a 12 month low of $159.95 and a 12 month high of $275.10.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.42% and a return on equity of 19.08%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.36 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equifax news, EVP Rodolfo O. Ploder sold 14,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total value of $3,178,168.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 75,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,126,083.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Rodolfo O. Ploder sold 14,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total transaction of $3,178,168.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 75,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,126,083.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total transaction of $13,143,735.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,623,649. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EFX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Equifax from $208.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Equifax from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Equifax from $291.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Equifax from $275.00 to $260.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $270.19.

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.