Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Has $13.99 Million Stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp cut its holdings in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 54,892 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 2,922 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Equifax were worth $13,989,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of Equifax by 22.3% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 6,097 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,792,000 after purchasing an additional 1,110 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Equifax by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 16,512 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,852,000 after buying an additional 1,704 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in Equifax by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 93,795 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $27,237,000 after acquiring an additional 1,748 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Equifax by 0.3% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 74,459 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $21,881,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 5.3% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 3,630 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,067,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of EFX stock opened at $240.37 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $251.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $263.86. The company has a market cap of $29.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Equifax Inc. has a twelve month low of $213.02 and a twelve month high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on EFX. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, February 7th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. 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 report on Tuesday, January 28th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Four investment 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $298.56.

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.