Vinva Investment Management Ltd Acquires New Stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Vinva Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,957 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $755,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of EFX. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Equifax by 37.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $950,268,000 after purchasing an additional 880,162 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 95.9% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Equifax in the 4th quarter valued at about $113,896,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 34.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 863,718 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $251,480,000 after buying an additional 220,109 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its position in Equifax by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,228,741 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $313,213,000 after acquiring an additional 187,460 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Equifax Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE EFX traded down $1.88 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $243.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,411,067 shares, compared to its average volume of 919,867. 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 stock has a market cap of $30.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $252.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $264.90. Equifax Inc. has a one year low of $213.02 and a one year high of $309.63.

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

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. Equifax's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EFX has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Equifax from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $298.56.

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.