Howland Capital Management LLC Makes New $268,000 Investment in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Howland Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $268,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EFX. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Equifax by 1,740.8% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 2,085,879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $515,817,000 after buying an additional 1,972,564 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Equifax during the 4th quarter worth about $204,218,000. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in Equifax during the 4th quarter worth about $154,667,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in Equifax during the 4th quarter worth about $126,794,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Equifax by 70.2% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 739,492 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $182,869,000 after purchasing an additional 305,028 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equifax news, EVP Rodolfo O. Ploder sold 14,097 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total transaction of $3,178,168.65. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 75,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,126,083.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total transaction of $13,143,735.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,220 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,623,649. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Rodolfo O. Ploder sold 14,097 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total value of $3,178,168.65. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 75,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,126,083.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 83,635 shares of company stock valued at $18,969,282 in the last quarter. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on EFX. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Equifax from $276.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Equifax from $291.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Equifax from $275.00 to $260.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Equifax in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Equifax from $290.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $270.47.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EFX traded up $1.71 during trading on Friday, hitting $254.60. 10,201 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 818,032. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $239.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $246.29. The company has a market cap of $31.47 billion, a PE ratio of 56.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Equifax Inc. has a 12-month low of $159.95 and a 12-month high of $275.10.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.06. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.08% and a net margin of 10.42%. The business had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.43 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.38 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 23rd. Equifax’s payout ratio is currently 34.74%.

Equifax Company 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.