Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Purchased by AGF Management Ltd.

AGF Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 66.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,054 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,035 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $7,659,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of EFX. State Street Corp raised its position in Equifax by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,816,186 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,415,284,000 after purchasing an additional 52,489 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 880,162 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Equifax by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,885,661 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $845,041,000 after purchasing an additional 29,742 shares in the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC raised its position in Equifax by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,835,102 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $467,676,000 after purchasing an additional 9,702 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Equifax by 95.9% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of EFX stock opened at $239.64 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $254.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $268.68. Equifax Inc. has a twelve month low of $213.02 and a twelve month high of $309.63. The company has a market capitalization of $29.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. 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 earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.12. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. Equities analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Three equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.