KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Invests $10.79 Million in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 42,355 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $10,794,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Equifax by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 178,846 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $45,577,000 after acquiring an additional 10,713 shares in the last quarter. Geo Capital Gestora de Recursos Ltd raised its holdings in Equifax by 37.7% in the fourth quarter. Geo Capital Gestora de Recursos Ltd now owns 21,273 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,421,000 after purchasing an additional 5,820 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 46.4% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 11,748 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,994,000 after buying an additional 3,724 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 40.0% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 1,158 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Equifax by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 59,533 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $15,172,000 after buying an additional 2,494 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on EFX. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Gordon Haskett upgraded Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Equifax from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Four investment 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $298.56.

Equifax Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE EFX opened at $245.27 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $252.91 and a 200 day moving average of $264.90. The company has a market capitalization of $30.42 billion, a PE ratio of 50.78, 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $213.02 and a 1 year high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 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%. Research analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

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

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.