Franklin Resources Inc. Increases Holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 14.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 987,879 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 124,161 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.80% of Equifax worth $251,761,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Equifax during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Spire Wealth Management increased its holdings in Equifax by 98.7% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 151 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new stake in Equifax in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of Equifax during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EFX has been the topic of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Equifax from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research cut shares of Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $298.56.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of EFX stock opened at $243.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $250.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $262.56. Equifax Inc. has a 52-week low of $213.02 and a 52-week high of $309.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.50, a P/E/G 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 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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, sell-side analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Equifax’s payout ratio is 32.30%.

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.