Tredje AP fonden Grows Stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Tredje AP fonden grew its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 53.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,686 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,314 shares during the period. Tredje AP fonden’s holdings in Equifax were worth $7,565,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Equifax by 39.0% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 10,843 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,775,000 after acquiring an additional 3,043 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in Equifax by 2.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 184,890 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $54,329,000 after acquiring an additional 5,097 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in Equifax by 84.1% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,016,000 after acquiring an additional 3,135 shares in the last quarter. NS Partners Ltd grew its position in Equifax by 2.3% in the third quarter. NS Partners Ltd now owns 95,010 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $27,920,000 after acquiring an additional 2,094 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Equifax in the fourth quarter worth $3,572,000. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EFX has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Argus lowered shares of Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on shares of Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Equifax has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $301.13.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EFX opened at $237.14 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $29.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $254.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $268.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Equifax Inc. has a 12 month low of $213.02 and a 12 month high of $309.63.

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

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Equifax’s payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

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.