NS Partners Ltd Sells 1,672 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

NS Partners Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 93,338 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 1,672 shares during the quarter. NS Partners Ltd owned approximately 0.08% of Equifax worth $23,787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Equifax by 1.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,816,186 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,415,284,000 after acquiring an additional 52,489 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Equifax by 37.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $950,268,000 after acquiring an additional 880,162 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Equifax by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,885,661 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $845,041,000 after acquiring an additional 29,742 shares during the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Equifax by 0.5% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake 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 valued at $412,239,000 after acquiring an additional 791,730 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Equifax to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Equifax from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $301.13.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EFX traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $239.64. The stock had a trading volume of 1,425,683 shares, compared to its average volume of 906,847. The company's 50-day moving average price is $254.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $268.88. The company has a market capitalization of $29.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Equifax Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $213.02 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Equifax's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.