Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Sold by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. decreased its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 15.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 66,028 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 12,130 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $16,827,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Equifax by 37.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $950,268,000 after acquiring an additional 880,162 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Equifax by 95.9% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Equifax during the 4th quarter worth $113,896,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Equifax by 34.2% in the third 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 period. Finally, Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,228,741 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $313,213,000 after buying an additional 187,460 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Performance

NYSE:EFX opened at $243.86 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The company has a market capitalization of $30.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $251.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $264.26. Equifax Inc. has a twelve month low of $213.02 and a twelve month high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. As a group, research analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Equifax’s payout ratio is 32.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Argus lowered Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Gordon Haskett upgraded Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, UBS Group cut 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equifax presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $298.56.

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.