Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $2.17 Million Stock Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,503 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 117 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Equifax were worth $2,167,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EFX. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 37.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $950,268,000 after buying an additional 880,162 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of 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 period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 34.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 863,718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $251,480,000 after buying an additional 220,109 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 767,136 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $225,431,000 after buying an additional 88,895 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 1.1% in 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 buying an additional 52,489 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:EFX opened at $238.04 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $258.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $272.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Equifax Inc. has a one year low of $213.02 and a one year high of $309.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.51 billion, a PE ratio of 49.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.58.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.12. Equifax had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Equifax’s payout ratio is 32.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group cut their price objective 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. BNP Paribas raised shares of Equifax from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $301.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the company’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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.