Handelsbanken Fonder AB Reduces Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB cut its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 25.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,075 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 6,789 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Equifax were worth $4,964,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EFX. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Equifax in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Equifax in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Smithfield Trust Co lifted its stake in Equifax by 55.5% in the 3rd quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 199 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Equifax in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Impact Partnership Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Equifax in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EFX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI raised shares of Equifax from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $210.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Equifax from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Equifax from $275.00 to $260.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $272.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $270.19.

Equifax Stock Up 0.2 %

Equifax stock opened at $226.24 on Friday. Equifax Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $159.95 and a fifty-two week high of $275.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $255.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $232.42. The company has a market capitalization of $27.96 billion, a PE ratio of 50.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.51.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.42% and a return on equity of 19.08%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.43 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.74%.

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.