44,753 Shares in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Purchased by Madison Investment Advisors LLC

Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 44,753 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,405,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in Equifax by 37.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $950,268,000 after purchasing an additional 880,162 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake 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 worth $412,239,000 after purchasing an additional 791,730 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Equifax in the 4th quarter worth about $113,896,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Equifax by 34.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 863,718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $251,480,000 after purchasing an additional 220,109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Equifax by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,052,213 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $268,156,000 after purchasing an additional 159,332 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equifax Stock Up 0.3 %

EFX opened at $244.06 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $252.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $265.78. Equifax Inc. has a twelve month low of $213.02 and a twelve month high of $309.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $30.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its 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%. Research analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $298.56.

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.