American Century Companies Inc. Trims Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

American Century Companies Inc. lowered its holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 32.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 432,816 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 210,346 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.35% of Equifax worth $110,303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EFX. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Equifax by 18.5% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,149 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $632,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 22.3% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 6,097 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,792,000 after purchasing an additional 1,110 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Equifax by 3.4% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 9,258 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $2,720,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new position in Equifax in the third quarter worth about $238,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Equifax by 84.1% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $2,016,000 after buying an additional 3,135 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Equifax Stock Down 0.8 %

EFX traded down $2.06 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $243.31. 913,291 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 919,867. Equifax Inc. has a 12-month low of $213.02 and a 12-month high of $309.63. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $252.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $264.90. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $30.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.42, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65.

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

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued 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 payout ratio is 32.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on EFX shares. Needham & Company LLC decreased 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. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Equifax from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $298.56.

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.