Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Bought by CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 136,569 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 5,571 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned 0.11% of Equifax worth $34,790,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Equifax by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,389,505 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,667,165,000 after purchasing an additional 135,009 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Equifax by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,957,204 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $751,645,000 after buying an additional 71,543 shares during the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Equifax by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,835,102 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $467,676,000 after acquiring an additional 9,702 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Equifax by 95.9% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,617,574 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $412,239,000 after acquiring an additional 791,730 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter worth $330,400,000. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equifax Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Equifax stock opened at $221.43 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $236.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $255.42. The stock has a market cap of $27.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. Equifax Inc. has a 1-year low of $199.98 and a 1-year high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share 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%. Analysts predict 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 was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Equifax's payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Equifax from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group decreased their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Equifax from $313.00 to $284.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $260.00 target price (down from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $292.31.

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.

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