ING Groep NV Takes $4.04 Million Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

ING Groep NV bought a new stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 15,831 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,035,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Equifax by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 799 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $204,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in Equifax by 41.3% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 36,702 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,354,000 after buying an additional 10,727 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Equifax by 69.0% in the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 11,698 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,981,000 after buying an additional 4,778 shares during the period. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Equifax by 272.6% in the 4th quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 5,231 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,333,000 after purchasing an additional 3,827 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lifted its stake in Equifax by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 4,309 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,098,000 after purchasing an additional 645 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In related news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total transaction of $143,474.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,045,781.83. This trade represents a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on EFX. Wolfe Research cut shares of Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Equifax from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $301.13.

Equifax Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of EFX opened at $238.04 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $258.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $272.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.28, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Equifax Inc. has a 1-year low of $213.02 and a 1-year high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12. Equifax had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.30%.

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.