Candriam S.C.A. Purchases 2,010 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Candriam S.C.A. lifted its position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 21.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,470 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,010 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $2,923,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in EFX. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equifax in the third quarter valued at about $313,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equifax in the third quarter valued at about $221,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 6.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 147,448 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $43,329,000 after acquiring an additional 8,500 shares in the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 12.6% in the third quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,297 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $381,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Applied Finance Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equifax in the third quarter valued at about $769,000. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EFX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wolfe Research lowered Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Equifax from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $301.13.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EFX opened at $254.87 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $254.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $269.84. The firm has a market cap of $31.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. Equifax Inc. has a 52 week low of $213.02 and a 52 week high of $309.63. 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 (NYSE:EFX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. Equifax’s dividend 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.