Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Purchased by Spire Wealth Management

Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 98.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 151 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the quarter. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in Equifax were worth $38,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its position in Equifax by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,975 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $503,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Equifax by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,267 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,087,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new stake in Equifax in the 4th quarter valued at about $400,000. OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its position in Equifax by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 67,920 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $17,309,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New England Research & Management Inc. purchased a new position in Equifax during the fourth quarter worth about $268,000. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on EFX. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. BNP Paribas upgraded Equifax from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays cut their price objective on Equifax from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $301.69.

Equifax Stock Up 0.4 %

EFX stock opened at $248.59 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $261.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $274.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.47, a PEG ratio of 3.00 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12. Equifax had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total transaction of $143,474.89. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,045,781.83. The trade was a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.