Prudential Financial Inc. Lowers Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Prudential Financial Inc. lowered its holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 15.5% during the fourth quarter, according to 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 quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.05% of Equifax worth $16,827,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Equifax in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Spire Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 98.7% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 151 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new position in shares of Equifax in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of Equifax during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EFX. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Equifax from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Four equities research 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 MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $298.56.

Equifax Stock Up 0.9 %

Equifax stock opened at $243.86 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $30.24 billion, a PE ratio of 50.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $251.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $264.26. Equifax Inc. has a 1-year low of $213.02 and a 1-year high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.