California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 7,795 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 218,436 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 7,795 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Equifax were worth $54,017,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Equifax in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Equifax in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Equifax in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Smithfield Trust Co boosted its holdings in Equifax by 55.5% in the third quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 199 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Equifax in the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Up 0.2 %

Equifax stock opened at $226.24 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.96 billion, a PE ratio of 50.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.51. Equifax Inc. has a 12 month low of $159.95 and a 12 month high of $275.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $255.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $232.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

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

Equifax Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America lowered their price target on Equifax from $300.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $305.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Equifax from $208.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Equifax from $291.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Equifax from $290.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $270.19.

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.