Norges Bank Makes New $330.40 Million Investment in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,296,449 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $330,400,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.05% of Equifax at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of EFX. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Equifax by 95.9% during the fourth 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. purchased a new position in shares of Equifax in the 4th quarter worth $113,896,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Equifax by 34.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 863,718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $251,480,000 after acquiring an additional 220,109 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its position in Equifax by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,228,741 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $313,213,000 after acquiring an additional 187,460 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Equifax by 17.8% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 159,332 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EFX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Equifax from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Four research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $298.56.

Equifax Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE EFX opened at $240.37 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Equifax Inc. has a 12 month low of $213.02 and a 12 month high of $309.63. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $251.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $263.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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, research analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given 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 was Friday, February 21st. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

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.