AKO Capital LLP Raises Stock Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

AKO Capital LLP grew its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 32.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 726,246 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 176,434 shares during the quarter. Equifax comprises about 2.6% of AKO Capital LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. AKO Capital LLP owned 0.59% of Equifax worth $185,084,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in Equifax by 22.3% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 6,097 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,792,000 after buying an additional 1,110 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Equifax by 11.5% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 16,512 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,852,000 after purchasing an additional 1,704 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Equifax during the 3rd quarter valued at $299,000. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 1.9% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 93,795 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $27,237,000 after acquiring an additional 1,748 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 0.3% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 74,459 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $21,881,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on EFX. Gordon Haskett upgraded Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, February 7th. Argus cut shares of Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Equifax presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $298.56.

Equifax Stock Up 0.9 %

Equifax stock opened at $243.86 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $251.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $264.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.75. Equifax Inc. has a one year low of $213.02 and a one year high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share 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 year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid 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 is presently 32.30%.

About Equifax

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.