Korea Investment CORP Grows Stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Korea Investment CORP raised its position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 14.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 85,524 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,744 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP owned 0.07% of Equifax worth $21,796,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Equifax by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,389,505 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,667,165,000 after buying an additional 135,009 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,816,186 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,415,284,000 after purchasing an additional 52,489 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,885,661 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $845,041,000 after purchasing an additional 29,742 shares in the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Equifax by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,835,102 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $467,676,000 after purchasing an additional 9,702 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 791,730 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on EFX. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Equifax from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Equifax from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $298.56.

Equifax Stock Down 4.3 %

NYSE:EFX traded down $10.69 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $236.88. 443,463 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,047,030. Equifax Inc. has a one year low of $213.02 and a one year high of $309.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The company has a market cap of $29.56 billion, a PE ratio of 49.04, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $250.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $262.46.

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

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. Equifax's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

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.