Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. Sells 90 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. cut its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,486 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 90 shares during the quarter. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $634,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Equifax by 37.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $950,268,000 after buying an additional 880,162 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 791,730 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Equifax in the 4th quarter worth about $113,896,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Equifax by 34.2% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Equifax by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,052,213 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $268,156,000 after buying an additional 159,332 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equifax Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE EFX opened at $239.64 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $254.17 and its 200 day moving average is $268.68. 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 12 month low of $213.02 and a 12 month high of $309.63. The stock has a market cap of $29.72 billion, a PE ratio of 49.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted 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 return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. Research analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on EFX shares. BNP Paribas upgraded Equifax from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group cut their price target on Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $301.13.

Equifax 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.