Madison Investment Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 44,753 Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 44,753 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $11,405,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Equifax during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Spire Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 98.7% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 151 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its position in Equifax by 78.9% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 254 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Equifax in the 4th quarter valued at $93,000. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EFX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equifax presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $298.56.

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Equifax Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:EFX traded down $1.88 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $243.48. 1,411,067 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 920,916. The firm has a market cap of $30.20 billion, a PE ratio of 50.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. Equifax Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $213.02 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $252.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $264.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.12. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Equifax's dividend 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.