Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes $113.90 Million Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 446,913 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $113,896,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.36% of Equifax as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in Equifax by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,816,186 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,415,284,000 after buying an additional 52,489 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 37.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $950,268,000 after acquiring an additional 880,162 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,885,661 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $845,041,000 after purchasing an additional 29,742 shares in the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings 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 valued at $412,239,000 after purchasing an additional 791,730 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company's stock.

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Equifax Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of EFX stock traded up $0.19 on Wednesday, hitting $239.64. The stock had a trading volume of 1,190,535 shares, compared to its average volume of 906,846. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Equifax Inc. has a twelve month low of $213.02 and a twelve month high of $309.63. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $254.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $268.88. The firm has a market cap of $29.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.62, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65.

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

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Equifax's payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on EFX shares. Gordon Haskett raised Equifax to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $301.13.

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.