Howard Capital Management Inc. Buys 45 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $224,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 1,334.0% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 674 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $172,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Management Nebraska bought a new position in Equifax in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $357,000. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Equifax by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. now owns 964 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT raised its holdings in Equifax by 92.0% in the 4th quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 10,997 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,803,000 after buying an additional 5,268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in Equifax by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 409,026 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $104,241,000 after buying an additional 24,295 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of EFX stock opened at $245.43 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $30.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.58. Equifax Inc. has a 52 week low of $213.02 and a 52 week high of $309.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $256.87 and a 200-day moving average of $272.34.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Equifax’s payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Argus lowered shares of Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $301.13.

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.