Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Bought by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 39.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,128 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,944 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $5,384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Equifax by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 6,588 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,936,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax during the third quarter worth $29,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 59.8% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,358 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $399,000 after buying an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Equifax in the 3rd quarter valued at $264,000. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Equifax by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,242 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $659,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on EFX. Wolfe Research downgraded Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped 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. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Argus downgraded shares of Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $301.13.

Equifax Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of EFX stock opened at $239.64 on Thursday. Equifax Inc. has a 1-year low of $213.02 and a 1-year high of $309.63. The company has a market cap of $29.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.62, 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. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $254.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $268.68.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Equifax’s payout ratio is 32.30%.

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.