Long Road Investment Counsel LLC Sells 150 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Long Road Investment Counsel LLC lowered its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,816 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 150 shares during the quarter. Long Road Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $1,482,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of EFX. FMR LLC raised its stake in Equifax by 37.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $950,268,000 after purchasing an additional 880,162 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 95.9% in 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. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Equifax during the 4th quarter worth about $113,896,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Equifax by 34.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 863,718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $251,480,000 after acquiring an additional 220,109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Equifax by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,052,213 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $268,156,000 after acquiring an additional 159,332 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of Equifax stock opened at $240.46 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.79, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. 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 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on EFX. Wolfe Research cut shares of Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $298.47.

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.