Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Purchases 1,976 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 275,009 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,976 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.22% of Equifax worth $70,086,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EFX. Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in Equifax by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 1,702 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Equifax by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 1,012 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Equifax by 13.5% in the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 371 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $109,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of Equifax by 3.7% in the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,474 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $401,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Equifax by 1.9% in the third quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,936 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $863,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other 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 directly owns 11,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,045,781.83. This represents a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.57% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EFX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research cut shares of Equifax from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Argus lowered Equifax from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. BNP Paribas upgraded Equifax from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $301.69.

Equifax Stock Performance

EFX stock traded down $3.35 on Thursday, reaching $251.01. 1,697,489 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,065,920. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $260.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $274.38. Equifax Inc. has a 12 month low of $213.02 and a 12 month high of $309.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.11 billion, a PE ratio of 51.97, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.58.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.45 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Equifax's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.30%.

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.