Boston Partners Has $174.51 Million Stock Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 4.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 652,631 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,192 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned approximately 0.53% of Equifax worth $174,511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Equifax by 75.5% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 2,269 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $607,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of Equifax by 183.0% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 17,015 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,552,000 after purchasing an additional 11,002 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax during the 1st quarter worth about $10,887,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Equifax during the 1st quarter worth about $213,000. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new stake in Equifax during the 1st quarter worth about $217,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Trading Up 0.9 %

Equifax stock traded up $2.53 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $284.63. 1,464,955 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 714,422. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $248.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $249.09. Equifax Inc. has a 52 week low of $159.95 and a 52 week high of $287.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.22 billion, a PE ratio of 63.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.67% and a return on equity of 18.88%. Equifax’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.71 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Karen L. Fichuk bought 415 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $238.77 per share, for a total transaction of $99,089.55. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $789,134.85. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 3,650 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.24, for a total value of $836,726.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,219 shares in the company, valued at $14,263,083.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Karen L. Fichuk acquired 415 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $238.77 per share, for a total transaction of $99,089.55. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $789,134.85. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,238 shares of company stock worth $2,647,378. Company insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Equifax from $273.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Equifax from $246.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Equifax from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Equifax from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Equifax in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price objective on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Equifax has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $287.00.

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.