Franklin Resources Inc. Has $251.76 Million Stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 14.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 987,879 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 124,161 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.80% of Equifax worth $251,761,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at about $330,400,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 95.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 791,730 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Equifax during the 4th quarter worth approximately $113,896,000. Boston Partners lifted its stake in Equifax by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,228,741 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $313,213,000 after purchasing an additional 187,460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AKO Capital LLP boosted its position in Equifax by 32.1% in the fourth quarter. AKO Capital LLP now owns 726,246 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $185,084,000 after buying an additional 176,434 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Equifax Trading Down 9.3 %

Shares of EFX stock traded down $21.50 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $210.30. 2,944,287 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 960,775. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $248.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $261.34. The firm has a market cap of $26.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.75. Equifax Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $209.89 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63.

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

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Equifax's payout ratio is 32.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. BNP Paribas cut Equifax from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Argus downgraded Equifax from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded 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, Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on shares of Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equifax currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $294.50.

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.