Swiss National Bank Sells 17,300 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Swiss National Bank reduced its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 349,600 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 17,300 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.28% of Equifax worth $89,096,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of EFX. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Equifax by 37.4% during 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 period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position 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 buying an additional 791,730 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equifax during the 4th quarter worth $113,896,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 220,109 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Equifax by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,052,213 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $268,156,000 after purchasing an additional 159,332 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays cut their price target on Equifax from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equifax has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $298.47.

Equifax Stock Performance

Equifax stock opened at $235.96 on Friday. Equifax Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $213.02 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $253.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $268.00. The stock has a market cap of $29.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.85, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 (NYSE:EFX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Equifax’s payout ratio is currently 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.