American Century Companies Inc. Reduces Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

American Century Companies Inc. reduced its position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 32.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 432,816 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 210,346 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $110,303,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Equifax by 37.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $950,268,000 after purchasing an additional 880,162 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in 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 valued at $412,239,000 after acquiring an additional 791,730 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter worth $113,896,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 34.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 863,718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $251,480,000 after acquiring an additional 220,109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,228,741 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $313,213,000 after acquiring an additional 187,460 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EFX opened at $244.06 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $30.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $252.95 and its 200 day moving average is $265.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Equifax Inc. has a 1-year low of $213.02 and a 1-year high of $309.63.

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, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12. Equifax had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given 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 0.64%. Equifax’s payout ratio is 32.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target 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. Four equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equifax has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $298.56.

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.