Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT Has $2.80 Million Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT lifted its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 92.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,997 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,268 shares during the quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s holdings in Equifax were worth $2,803,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Greenleaf Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 1,702 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $434,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Equifax by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 1,012 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 371 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Equifax by 6.1% in 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, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its position in Equifax by 3.7% during the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,474 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $401,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE EFX opened at $238.04 on Friday. Equifax Inc. has a 12-month low of $213.02 and a 12-month high of $309.63. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $258.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $272.93. 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 company has a market cap of $29.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.58.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.12. Equifax had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. On average, research analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EFX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on shares of Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $301.13.

Insider Transactions at Equifax

In other Equifax news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total value of $143,474.89. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,045,781.83. This trade represents a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.