Xponance Inc. Purchases 574 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Xponance Inc. raised its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,213 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 574 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $5,151,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 37.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $950,268,000 after purchasing an additional 880,162 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 791,730 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equifax during the 4th quarter worth about $113,896,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 34.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 863,718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $251,480,000 after purchasing an additional 220,109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted 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 worth $313,213,000 after purchasing an additional 187,460 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Trading Up 2.7 %

NYSE:EFX opened at $242.10 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $253.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $266.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.75. Equifax Inc. has a 52 week low of $213.02 and a 52 week high of $309.63. The firm has a market cap of $30.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65.

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

Equifax Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Equifax’s payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on EFX shares. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on shares of Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Argus cut shares of Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $298.47.

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.