AIA Group Ltd Has $2.21 Million Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

AIA Group Ltd cut its holdings in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 42.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,680 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 6,280 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Equifax were worth $2,212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at $330,400,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Equifax by 95.9% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,617,574 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $412,239,000 after purchasing an additional 791,730 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Equifax during the 4th quarter worth $113,896,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Equifax by 34.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 863,718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $251,480,000 after buying an additional 220,109 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Equifax by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,228,741 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $313,213,000 after buying an additional 187,460 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of EFX opened at $243.72 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $251.05 and its 200 day moving average is $263.00. Equifax Inc. has a 12-month low of $213.02 and a 12-month high of $309.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market cap of $30.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EFX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equifax presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $298.56.

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.