Weitz Investment Management Inc. Grows Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Weitz Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 188,500 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 12,500 shares during the period. Equifax accounts for 2.5% of Weitz Investment Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Weitz Investment Management Inc. owned 0.15% of Equifax worth $48,039,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Spire Wealth Management grew its position in Equifax by 98.7% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 151 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new position in Equifax in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EFX has been the topic of several recent research reports. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, February 7th. BNP Paribas cut Equifax from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, March 14th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Equifax from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $294.50.

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Equifax Price Performance

Shares of EFX traded down $21.50 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $210.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,944,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 960,775. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.54, 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 one year low of $209.89 and a one year high of $309.63. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $248.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $261.34.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Equifax's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.