Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Bought by South Dakota Investment Council

South Dakota Investment Council grew its holdings in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 53.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,885 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Equifax were worth $2,197,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Veritas Asset Management LLP boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 58.2% during the 3rd quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 1,788,875 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $327,686,000 after acquiring an additional 657,999 shares during the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 269.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 552,683 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $101,240,000 after acquiring an additional 403,208 shares during the last quarter. Kensico Capital Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 108.2% during the 3rd quarter. Kensico Capital Management Corp now owns 740,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $135,553,000 after acquiring an additional 384,600 shares during the last quarter. Intermede Investment Partners Ltd boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 55.6% during the 3rd quarter. Intermede Investment Partners Ltd now owns 810,768 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $148,516,000 after acquiring an additional 289,875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 22.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,366,809 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $250,372,000 after acquiring an additional 246,390 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of Equifax stock opened at $225.77 on Thursday. Equifax Inc. has a one year low of $159.95 and a one year high of $275.10. The company has a market cap of $27.91 billion, a PE ratio of 50.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.73. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $256.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $232.46.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.06. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.08% and a net margin of 10.42%. The business had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on EFX shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Equifax from $276.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Equifax from $208.00 to $289.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Equifax from $291.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $270.19.

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.