Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Takes $368,000 Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC purchased a new position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 1,445 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $368,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Equifax by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 3,726 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $903,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its position in Equifax by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 371 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $109,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in shares of Equifax by 3.0% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 1,665 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $489,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 3.7% during the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,474 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 1.9% during the third quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,936 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $863,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total value of $272,920.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. This represents a 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total value of $15,770,648.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,532,909.67. The trade was a 34.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 59,855 shares of company stock worth $16,187,044. 1.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EFX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Equifax from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. BNP Paribas raised Equifax from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Equifax in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $360.00 price target on the stock. Two 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $311.12.

Equifax Price Performance

EFX stock opened at $272.08 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $258.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $273.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.73 billion, a PE ratio of 60.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Equifax Inc. has a one year low of $213.02 and a one year high of $309.63.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Equifax’s payout ratio is 34.67%.

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.