Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Makes New $367,000 Investment in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,440 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $367,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Equifax by 39.0% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 10,843 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,775,000 after purchasing an additional 3,043 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Equifax by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 184,890 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $54,329,000 after purchasing an additional 5,097 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Equifax by 84.1% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,016,000 after purchasing an additional 3,135 shares during the last quarter. NS Partners Ltd raised its stake in Equifax by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. NS Partners Ltd now owns 95,010 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $27,920,000 after purchasing an additional 2,094 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Equifax in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,572,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays lowered their price target on Equifax from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. BNP Paribas upgraded Equifax from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Three investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $301.13.

Equifax Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE EFX opened at $245.28 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $30.42 billion, a PE ratio of 50.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.58. Equifax Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $213.02 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $256.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $271.53. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

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.