Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. Increases Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 19.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 964 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $246,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp grew its stake in Equifax by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,816,186 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,415,284,000 after acquiring an additional 52,489 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Equifax by 37.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $950,268,000 after acquiring an additional 880,162 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Equifax by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,885,661 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $845,041,000 after acquiring an additional 29,742 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Equifax by 95.9% in 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 period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Equifax by 76,913.8% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 960,362 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $282,212,000 after buying an additional 959,115 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total value of $143,474.89. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,045,781.83. This trade represents a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research cut shares of Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Argus cut shares of Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Equifax from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $301.13.

Equifax Price Performance

Equifax stock opened at $238.04 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $29.51 billion, a PE ratio of 49.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $258.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $272.93.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12. Equifax had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. On average, research analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. 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.