Novus Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,050 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $268,000.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Equifax in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Spire Wealth Management boosted its position in Equifax by 98.7% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 151 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc acquired a new position in Equifax in the third quarter valued at approximately $85,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company's stock.
Several research analysts have recently weighed in on EFX shares. UBS Group reduced their target price on Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wolfe Research cut Equifax from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $301.13.
Check Out Our Latest Report on Equifax
Shares of EFX opened at $245.67 on Friday. 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's 50-day moving average price is $255.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $270.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.58. Equifax Inc. has a 12-month low of $213.02 and a 12-month high of $309.63.
Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.12. Equifax had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. As a group, research analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Equifax's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.30%.
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.
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