New York State Common Retirement Fund Cuts Stock Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 70,499 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 4,000 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Equifax were worth $17,967,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EFX. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Equifax by 37.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $950,268,000 after purchasing an additional 880,162 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 95.9% during 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 buying an additional 791,730 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 34.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 863,718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $251,480,000 after buying an additional 220,109 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 13.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 767,136 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $225,431,000 after buying an additional 88,895 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,816,186 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,415,284,000 after acquiring an additional 52,489 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In related news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total transaction of $143,474.89. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,045,781.83. This represents a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EFX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Equifax has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $301.13.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of Equifax stock opened at $238.04 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $258.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $272.88. Equifax Inc. has a 52 week low of $213.02 and a 52 week high of $309.63. The company has a market capitalization of $29.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.28, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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, analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.30%.

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.