Mizuho Securities USA LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 46.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,748 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,724 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $2,994,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings 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 grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 2.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 184,890 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $54,329,000 after buying an additional 5,097 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $2,016,000 after buying an additional 3,135 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,585 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,572,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of EFX stock opened at $244.06 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.53, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. Equifax Inc. has a one year low of $213.02 and a one year high of $309.63. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $252.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $265.26. 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 (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.12. Equifax had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. Sell-side analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS 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 issued a $0.39 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $298.56.

About Equifax

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.