DnB Asset Management AS Purchases 986 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

DnB Asset Management AS raised its position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,575 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 986 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Equifax were worth $6,518,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in EFX. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Spire Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Equifax by 98.7% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 151 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new stake in Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on EFX shares. Argus cut shares of Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. BNP Paribas lowered Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Four 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 data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $298.56.

Equifax Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE EFX opened at $240.37 on Monday. Equifax Inc. has a 1 year low of $213.02 and a 1 year high of $309.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.81 billion, a PE ratio of 49.77, a PEG 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $251.43 and its 200 day moving average is $263.39.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is 32.30%.

Equifax Company 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.