Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Purchased by V Square Quantitative Management LLC

V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,805 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $460,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Equifax by 39.0% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 10,843 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,775,000 after buying an additional 3,043 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Equifax by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 184,890 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $54,329,000 after buying an additional 5,097 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,397 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,880,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 84.1% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,016,000 after purchasing an additional 3,135 shares during the period. Finally, NS Partners Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. NS Partners Ltd now owns 95,010 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $27,920,000 after purchasing an additional 2,094 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of EFX opened at $249.58 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $260.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $274.18. 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 $30.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.67, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. Analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on EFX shares. Barclays decreased their target price on Equifax from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Argus cut Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wolfe Research cut Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BNP Paribas upgraded Equifax from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $301.13.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In related news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total transaction of $143,474.89. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,045,781.83. This represents a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

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.