Clearstead Trust LLC Buys Shares of 726 Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Clearstead Trust LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 726 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $185,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in Equifax by 37.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $950,268,000 after purchasing an additional 880,162 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Equifax by 95.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 791,730 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Equifax during the 4th quarter valued at about $113,896,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 34.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 863,718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $251,480,000 after acquiring an additional 220,109 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 17.8% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 159,332 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on EFX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Gordon Haskett raised Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $298.47.

Equifax Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:EFX opened at $235.96 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $29.26 billion, a PE ratio of 48.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $253.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $268.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Equifax Inc. has a 12-month low of $213.02 and a 12-month high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released 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 net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

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