05/23/10 Morton Holdings Takes 5.6% Stake Worth $213.1M in Equifax

Greenwich, Conn.-based investment firm Morton Holdings, Inc. disclosed in an SEC filing that it has taken a 5.6 percent stake in credit reporting company Equifax, Inc. (NYSE: EFX).

Morton holds 7,128,395 shares, worth $213.06 million at Equifax's Friday closing price of $29.89 a share.

Atlanta-based Equifax collects, organizes, and manages financial, demographic, employment, and marketing information in the United States, Canada, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and nine South American and Latin American countries.

Philip B. Korsant, the sole member of Morton Holdings and a former executive at Ziff Davis Investments, is also named as a beneficial owner in the filing. Korsant is an environmental activist and a board member of The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

Morton has substantial stakes in such companies as Cosi, Immunogen, and WebMD.

Equifax had net income of $56.7 million and earnings of 45 cents a share in the first quarter 2010, compared with net income of $54.4 million and earnings of 43 cents a share in the first quarter of 2009. Revenue for the period rose 3 percent to $461.3 million.

Fidelity Investment Management of Boston is the largest institutional shareholder with 18.44 million shares for 14.57 percent of the common stock.

Earlier this month, citybizlist reported that Equifax authorized the repurchase of up to an additional $150 million of the company's common stock, through open-market and privately negotiated transactions.

SEC filing: http://tinyurl.com/2az5wlg

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