Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Increases Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 36,561 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $9,318,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 39.0% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 10,843 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,775,000 after buying an additional 3,043 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Equifax by 2.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 184,890 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $54,329,000 after purchasing an additional 5,097 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Equifax by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,585 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,572,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake 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 worth $412,239,000 after purchasing an additional 791,730 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equifax Trading Down 1.4 %

EFX opened at $240.37 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $251.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $263.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.81 billion, a PE ratio of 49.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. Equifax Inc. has a one year low of $213.02 and a one year high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on EFX shares. Gordon Haskett upgraded Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Argus cut Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Four equities research 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.com, Equifax has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.