Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Shares Purchased by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 255,488 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,871 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned 0.21% of Equifax worth $65,174,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,123,701 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $796,075,000 after buying an additional 11,861 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Equifax by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 33,875 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $8,633,000 after acquiring an additional 592 shares during the period. Norinchukin Bank The lifted its holdings in Equifax by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 5,876 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,497,000 after purchasing an additional 633 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its position in Equifax by 209.3% during the fourth quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 4,309 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,098,000 after purchasing an additional 2,916 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Equifax by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 629,568 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $160,451,000 after purchasing an additional 46,577 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. 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. Argus downgraded shares of Equifax from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $260.00 price target (down from $325.00) on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Gordon Haskett upgraded Equifax to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, February 7th. Five investment 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $292.00.

Equifax Price Performance

NYSE:EFX traded down $0.67 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $257.99. The stock had a trading volume of 164,461 shares, compared to its average volume of 962,200. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.04 billion, a PE ratio of 53.36, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $236.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $253.36. 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 52 week low of $199.98 and a 52 week high of $309.63.

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

Equifax Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is an increase from Equifax's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Equifax's payout ratio 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.