Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Buys 70,091 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,044,561 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 70,091 shares during the period. Equifax accounts for about 1.8% of Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC owned 2.46% of Equifax worth $738,184,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Equifax in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Equifax by 76.1% in the second quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 138.2% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 131 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equifax news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.85, for a total transaction of $845,550.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,065,118.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on EFX. Wolfe Research started coverage on Equifax in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Equifax from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Equifax from $273.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $302.06.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EFX opened at $299.09 on Friday. Equifax Inc. has a 1 year low of $159.95 and a 1 year high of $309.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $287.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $259.31.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.09. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.88% and a net margin of 10.67%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.71 EPS. Equifax’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.74%.

Equifax Profile

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.