Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Sold by Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. trimmed its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 5.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 858 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 49 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $209,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EFX. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its position in shares of Equifax by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 817 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $208,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Integrated Advisors Network LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 1,595 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 799 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $204,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,202 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $561,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.61, for a total transaction of $5,686,477.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 142,395 shares in the company, 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 shares were sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total value of $518,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,887,101.60. This represents a 2.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America assumed coverage on Equifax in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $280.00 price objective on the stock. Gordon Haskett upgraded Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Equifax from $288.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $260.00 target price (down from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, April 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $294.44.

Equifax Stock Up 0.1%

EFX stock opened at $268.55 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $250.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $253.11. The company has a market cap of $33.35 billion, a PE ratio of 55.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.63. Equifax Inc. has a twelve month low of $199.98 and a twelve month high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.08. Equifax had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.41 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This is an increase from Equifax’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.