Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Purchased by GFI Investment Counsel Ltd.

GFI Investment Counsel Ltd. lifted its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 245,231 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,219 shares during the quarter. Equifax accounts for 7.2% of GFI Investment Counsel Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. GFI Investment Counsel Ltd.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $62,497,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,389,505 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,667,165,000 after acquiring an additional 135,009 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Equifax by 1.1% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Equifax by 1.0% in the third 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 increased 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 worth $467,676,000 after purchasing an additional 9,702 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 95.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,617,574 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $412,239,000 after purchasing an additional 791,730 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equifax Trading Up 1.4 %

EFX stock opened at $243.72 on Tuesday. Equifax Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $213.02 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $251.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $263.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.46, 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.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. Analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, March 14th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $298.56.

About Equifax

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.