Freshford Capital Management LLC Acquires New Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Freshford Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 76,505 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $19,497,000. Equifax makes up about 5.6% of Freshford Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Freshford Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Equifax at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Equifax in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in Equifax in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Spire Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new position in shares of Equifax during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of Equifax during the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EFX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Equifax in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Equifax from $313.00 to $284.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. BNP Paribas cut Equifax from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Equifax presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $292.31.

Equifax Stock Up 14.1 %

EFX opened at $245.74 on Wednesday. Equifax Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $199.98 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63. The company has a market capitalization of $30.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.88, 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 current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $235.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $254.35.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.08. Equifax had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Equifax's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.30%.

Equifax 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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