Parnassus Investments LLC Has $496.53 Million Stock Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Parnassus Investments LLC reduced its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,948,324 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 118,289 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $496,530,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Equifax during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Equifax during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in Equifax during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Spire Wealth Management raised its holdings in Equifax by 98.7% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 151 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Equifax by 78.9% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 254 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EFX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Equifax has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $301.13.

Equifax Price Performance

NYSE:EFX opened at $237.14 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $254.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $268.68. Equifax Inc. has a 1-year low of $213.02 and a 1-year high of $309.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.41 billion, a PE ratio of 49.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released 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 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.30%.

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.