Boston Partners Has $313.21 Million Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Boston Partners lifted its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 18.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,228,741 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 187,460 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners’ holdings in Equifax were worth $313,213,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EFX. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Equifax by 22.9% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 1,305 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $383,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Equifax in the third quarter worth $305,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Equifax by 18.5% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,149 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $632,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Equifax by 22.3% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 6,097 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,792,000 after acquiring an additional 1,110 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Equifax during the third quarter valued at about $786,000. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EFX. Barclays decreased their target price on Equifax from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Gordon Haskett raised Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Argus downgraded Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $298.47.

Equifax Stock Performance

EFX stock opened at $240.46 on Tuesday. 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $253.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $267.05. Equifax Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $213.02 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.82 billion, a PE ratio of 49.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. Analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.39 dividend. 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 (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.