HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Buys 133 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,942 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Equifax by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 987,879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $251,761,000 after acquiring an additional 124,161 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in Equifax by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 159,075 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $40,540,000 after purchasing an additional 16,788 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Equifax by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 8,605 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,193,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares during the period. Allianz SE bought a new stake in Equifax during the 4th quarter valued at $1,595,000. Finally, Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 4th quarter worth $937,000. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equifax Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE EFX opened at $247.75 on Thursday. Equifax Inc. has a 12-month low of $213.02 and a 12-month high of $309.63. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $250.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $262.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market cap of $30.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.29, a P/E/G 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, 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Equifax from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equifax presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $298.56.

Equifax 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.