Arlington Partners LLC Has $4.14 Million Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Arlington Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 14.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,251 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,018 shares during the quarter. Arlington Partners LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $4,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Equifax by 1.1% in 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 grew its holdings in Equifax by 37.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $950,268,000 after purchasing an additional 880,162 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Equifax by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,885,661 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $845,041,000 after purchasing an additional 29,742 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Equifax by 76,913.8% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 960,362 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $282,212,000 after purchasing an additional 959,115 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Equifax by 34.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 863,718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $251,480,000 after purchasing an additional 220,109 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on EFX shares. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Equifax from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $301.69.

Equifax Stock Up 0.4 %

EFX opened at $248.59 on Monday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $261.12 and its 200 day moving average is $274.92. Equifax Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $213.02 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.47, a PEG ratio of 3.00 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 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12. Equifax had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. Research analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is 32.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equifax news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,045,781.83. The trade was a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

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.