Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Buys 885 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,931 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 885 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $5,079,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC grew its stake in Equifax by 37.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $950,268,000 after buying an additional 880,162 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Equifax by 95.9% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,617,574 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $412,239,000 after purchasing an additional 791,730 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter worth about $113,896,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $251,480,000 after purchasing an additional 220,109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Equifax by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,052,213 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $268,156,000 after purchasing an additional 159,332 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Performance

EFX stock opened at $245.19 on Thursday. 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. The business’s fifty day moving average is $255.49 and its 200-day moving average is $270.66. The company has a market cap of $30.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.58.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its 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 return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. Equities research analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EFX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wolfe Research lowered Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Gordon Haskett upgraded Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, February 7th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Equifax currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $301.13.

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.