Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT Has $2.80 Million Stock Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT boosted its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 92.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,997 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,268 shares during the period. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s holdings in Equifax were worth $2,803,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EFX. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Equifax in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Equifax during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Spire Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 98.7% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 151 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax during the third quarter worth $73,000. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays lowered their target price on Equifax from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Argus cut Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $301.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equifax news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total transaction of $143,474.89. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,697 shares in the company, valued at $3,045,781.83. This represents a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of EFX opened at $238.04 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $258.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $272.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $29.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.58. Equifax Inc. has a 52 week low of $213.02 and a 52 week high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. On average, analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. 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.