Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Acquired by O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 8,605 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 630 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $2,193,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter worth about $330,400,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Equifax by 95.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,617,574 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $412,239,000 after buying an additional 791,730 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Equifax during the 4th quarter worth approximately $113,896,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Equifax by 34.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 863,718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $251,480,000 after acquiring an additional 220,109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Equifax by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,228,741 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $313,213,000 after acquiring an additional 187,460 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Equifax from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, February 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $294.50.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EFX opened at $210.30 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $26.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.54, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Equifax Inc. has a 12 month low of $209.89 and a 12 month high of $309.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $248.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $261.59.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 EPS 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

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.