Rhumbline Advisers Sells 3,681 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Rhumbline Advisers cut its holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 221,523 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 3,681 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.18% of Equifax worth $56,455,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Equifax by 1.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,816,186 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,415,284,000 after purchasing an additional 52,489 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Equifax by 37.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $950,268,000 after buying an additional 880,162 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Equifax by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,885,661 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $845,041,000 after buying an additional 29,742 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Equifax by 95.9% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,617,574 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $412,239,000 after acquiring an additional 791,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Equifax by 76,913.8% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 960,362 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $282,212,000 after acquiring an additional 959,115 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other Equifax news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total value of $143,474.89. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,697 shares in the company, valued at $3,045,781.83. This represents a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company's stock.

Equifax Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE:EFX traded down $2.45 on Thursday, hitting $240.79. 1,258,702 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,067,236. The company has a market cap of $29.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $259.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $273.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Equifax Inc. has a 52 week low of $213.02 and a 52 week high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. As a group, analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Equifax's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on EFX shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Gordon Haskett raised Equifax to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. 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 note on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Equifax from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $301.13.

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.