Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Purchases 430 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 23.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,276 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $580,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Equifax during the 4th quarter worth approximately $330,400,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in 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 valued at $412,239,000 after purchasing an additional 791,730 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at about $113,896,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in 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, Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Equifax by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,228,741 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $313,213,000 after purchasing an additional 187,460 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:EFX opened at $240.37 on Monday. 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 $29.81 billion, a PE ratio of 49.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company has a fifty day moving average of $251.43 and a 200-day moving average of $263.39.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its 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 return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. On average, equities analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued 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 of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Equifax’s payout ratio is 32.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on EFX. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays reduced their target price on Equifax from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $298.56.

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.