Moran Wealth Management LLC Has $11.24 Million Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Moran Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 44,101 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $11,239,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings 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 period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 95.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 791,730 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Equifax during the 4th quarter worth approximately $113,896,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Equifax by 34.2% in the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake 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 valued at $268,156,000 after acquiring an additional 159,332 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, February 7th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Equifax from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $301.13.

Equifax Stock Performance

NYSE:EFX opened at $254.87 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $31.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.77, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. Equifax Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $213.02 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $254.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $269.64.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (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 anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. 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.