Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Acquires New Stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 154 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $39,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EFX. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 37.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $950,268,000 after purchasing an additional 880,162 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 95.9% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 4th quarter worth $113,896,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 34.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 863,718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $251,480,000 after purchasing an additional 220,109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 17.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 159,332 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of Equifax stock opened at $244.06 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $252.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $265.78. Equifax Inc. has a 52 week low of $213.02 and a 52 week high of $309.63. The company has a market capitalization of $30.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.53, 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.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.12. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. As a group, analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EFX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Argus downgraded Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Equifax from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.