Global Retirement Partners LLC Has $124,000 Stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 447.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 504 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $124,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equifax in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equifax during the third quarter worth $27,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equifax during the second quarter worth $29,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 70.8% in the third quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 193 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Equifax by 55.5% in the third 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 during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of Equifax stock opened at $256.15 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $258.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $227.28. Equifax Inc. has a twelve month low of $159.95 and a twelve month high of $275.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The credit services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 10.36%. Equifax’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. Analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.51 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. Equifax’s payout ratio is 35.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on EFX shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Equifax from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Equifax from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $218.00 to $267.00 in a report on Friday, December 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Equifax from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $200.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Monday, December 18th. Bank of America raised Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $164.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $305.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $265.94.

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.