Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Acquired by M&T Bank Corp

M&T Bank Corp increased its position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 12.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,626 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,206 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Equifax were worth $5,001,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Greenleaf Trust increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 1,702 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $434,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 1,012 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 799 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $204,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,202 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $561,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on EFX shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Equifax from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equifax presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $301.13.

Equifax Price Performance

NYSE EFX opened at $254.87 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $254.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $270.31. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $31.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.58. Equifax Inc. has a 52-week low of $213.02 and a 52-week high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. Equities research analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.