ING Groep NV Makes New Investment in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

ING Groep NV acquired a new position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 15,831 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,035,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 799 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $204,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in Equifax by 41.3% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 36,702 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,354,000 after purchasing an additional 10,727 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC increased its position in Equifax by 69.0% during the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 11,698 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,981,000 after purchasing an additional 4,778 shares during the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC increased its position in Equifax by 272.6% during the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 5,231 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,333,000 after purchasing an additional 3,827 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund increased its position in shares of Equifax by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 4,309 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,098,000 after acquiring an additional 645 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In related news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total value of $143,474.89. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,045,781.83. The trade was a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $301.13.

Equifax Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE EFX opened at $238.04 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $29.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $213.02 and a 52 week high of $309.63. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $258.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $272.88.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.12. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

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.