First Horizon Advisors Inc. Acquires 627 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 1,334.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 674 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 627 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $172,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Equifax in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in shares of Equifax during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Spire Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 98.7% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 151 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $73,000. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Argus cut shares of Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $301.13.

Equifax Stock Up 2.3 %

EFX stock opened at $245.43 on Wednesday. Equifax Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $213.02 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $30.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.81, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.58. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $256.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $272.34.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Equifax’s payout ratio 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.