Nomura Holdings Inc. Makes New $1.04 Million Investment in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,083 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,041,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of 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 lifted 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 valued at $54,329,000 after buying an additional 5,097 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,572,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake 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 valued at $412,239,000 after acquiring an additional 791,730 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.61, for a total value of $5,686,477.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 142,395 shares of the company's stock, valued at $36,539,980.95. The trade was a 13.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total transaction of $518,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,887,101.60. The trade was a 2.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EFX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Gordon Haskett upgraded Equifax to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Equifax from $277.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on Equifax in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Equifax presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $294.44.

Equifax Stock Up 1.9%

Equifax stock traded up $4.87 during trading on Thursday, hitting $263.39. 1,227,955 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 972,113. Equifax Inc. has a 52 week low of $199.98 and a 52 week high of $309.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The business's 50 day moving average is $245.34 and its 200 day moving average is $252.84. The company has a market capitalization of $32.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.53, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.68.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.41 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. Analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Equifax's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Equifax's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.90%.

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.