Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 446,913 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $113,896,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equifax in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Spire Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 98.7% during 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 period. Finally, Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc acquired a new stake in Equifax in the third quarter valued at approximately $85,000. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $301.13.

Equifax Price Performance

Equifax stock opened at $254.87 on Friday. Equifax Inc. has a 52-week low of $213.02 and a 52-week high of $309.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $254.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $269.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.77, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share 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 yield of 0.61%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.