HighTower Advisors LLC Purchases 177 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 58,120 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $14,812,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AGF Management Ltd. increased its position in Equifax by 66.8% during the 4th quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 30,054 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,659,000 after buying an additional 12,035 shares during the period. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Equifax by 78.9% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 254 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its position in shares of Equifax by 58.3% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 1,860 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $474,000 after purchasing an additional 685 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of Equifax by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,050 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Equifax by 39.1% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 21,128 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,384,000 after purchasing an additional 5,944 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of EFX stock opened at $235.96 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $253.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $267.75. Equifax Inc. has a 12 month low of $213.02 and a 12 month high of $309.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.85, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. 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 (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on EFX. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research cut Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $298.47.

Equifax Company 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.