Norges Bank Invests $330.40 Million in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,296,449 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $330,400,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Greenleaf Trust boosted its position in Equifax by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 1,702 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $434,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 1,012 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its holdings in Equifax by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 817 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $208,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Equifax by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Equifax by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 799 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $204,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Equifax from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, March 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $298.56.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of Equifax stock opened at $240.37 on Friday. Equifax Inc. has a 12 month low of $213.02 and a 12 month 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 stock has a market cap of $29.81 billion, a PE ratio of 49.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $251.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $263.63.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given 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 0.65%. 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.