Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd Sells 3,322 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd lowered its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 50.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,322 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 3,322 shares during the quarter. Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd’s holdings in Equifax were worth $847,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in Equifax by 37.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $950,268,000 after acquiring an additional 880,162 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Equifax by 95.9% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,617,574 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $412,239,000 after purchasing an additional 791,730 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter worth $113,896,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 34.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 863,718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $251,480,000 after purchasing an additional 220,109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,228,741 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $313,213,000 after purchasing an additional 187,460 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on EFX shares. Barclays decreased their price target on Equifax from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $298.56.

Equifax Trading Up 0.5 %

Equifax stock opened at $245.27 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $30.42 billion, a PE ratio of 50.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. Equifax Inc. has a 12 month low of $213.02 and a 12 month high of $309.63. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $252.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $264.90. 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 (NYSE:EFX) last announced 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%. Analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio 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.