VSM Wealth Advisory LLC Takes $140,000 Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 550 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $140,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Equifax by 39.0% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 10,843 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,775,000 after buying an additional 3,043 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Equifax by 2.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 184,890 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $54,329,000 after purchasing an additional 5,097 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 84.1% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,016,000 after purchasing an additional 3,135 shares during the last quarter. NS Partners Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 2.3% during the third quarter. NS Partners Ltd now owns 95,010 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $27,920,000 after purchasing an additional 2,094 shares during the period. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,585 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $404,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on EFX shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. BNP Paribas lowered Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Wolfe Research downgraded Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Equifax from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Four equities 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.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $298.47.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of EFX opened at $242.10 on Thursday. Equifax Inc. has a 12 month low of $213.02 and a 12 month high of $309.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $253.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $266.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $30.03 billion, a PE ratio of 50.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its quarterly 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. Equifax’s payout ratio is 32.30%.

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.