Korea Investment CORP Boosts Stock Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Korea Investment CORP raised its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 14.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 85,524 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,744 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP owned about 0.07% of Equifax worth $21,796,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Equifax by 39.0% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 10,843 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,775,000 after acquiring an additional 3,043 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Equifax by 2.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 184,890 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $54,329,000 after purchasing an additional 5,097 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Equifax by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,585 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at $3,572,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Equifax by 95.9% during 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 buying an additional 791,730 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EFX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $298.56.

Equifax Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of Equifax stock opened at $240.37 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $29.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.77, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $251.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $263.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.75. Equifax Inc. has a one year low of $213.02 and a one year 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 the consensus estimate of $2.12. Equifax had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. On average, analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

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