Blueshift Asset Management LLC Sells 429 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC reduced its position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,439 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 429 shares during the quarter. Equifax comprises approximately 1.1% of Blueshift Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Blueshift Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $2,915,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EFX. State Street Corp raised its stake in Equifax by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,816,186 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,415,284,000 after acquiring an additional 52,489 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 37.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $950,268,000 after purchasing an additional 880,162 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,885,661 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $845,041,000 after purchasing an additional 29,742 shares during the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,835,102 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $467,676,000 after purchasing an additional 9,702 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Equifax by 95.9% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,617,574 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $412,239,000 after buying an additional 791,730 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equifax Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of EFX opened at $242.10 on Thursday. Equifax Inc. has a 1-year low of $213.02 and a 1-year 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $253.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $266.38. The stock 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.12. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. Equities analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. BNP Paribas downgraded Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Four 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $298.47.

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.