Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Purchased by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 15.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 678,374 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 91,609 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Equifax were worth $172,884,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Equifax by 39.0% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 10,843 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,775,000 after buying an additional 3,043 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 184,890 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $54,329,000 after acquiring an additional 5,097 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,585 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $404,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,572,000. Finally, 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of EFX stock opened at $240.37 on Friday. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $251.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $263.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. Equifax Inc. has a 12 month low of $213.02 and a 12 month high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on EFX. Argus lowered shares of Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays lowered their price target on Equifax from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their target price 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $298.56.

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.