Van ECK Associates Corp Has $412.24 Million Stock Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 95.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,617,574 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 791,730 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 1.31% of Equifax worth $412,239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of EFX. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Spire Wealth Management lifted its stake in Equifax by 98.7% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 151 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Equifax in the third quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Equifax during the 3rd quarter worth $73,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of Equifax stock opened at $254.54 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $31.55 billion, a PE ratio of 52.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.58. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $260.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $274.55. Equifax Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $213.02 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.12. Equifax had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. Analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other Equifax news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total value of $143,474.89. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,045,781.83. The trade was a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on EFX shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wolfe Research lowered Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Equifax presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $301.69.

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.