Hartford Investment Management Co. Decreases Stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Hartford Investment Management Co. reduced its position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,308 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 57 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $2,054,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 70.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 193 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EFX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Equifax from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $200.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Truist Financial increased their price objective 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. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $164.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Equifax from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $218.00 to $267.00 in a research note on Friday, December 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $265.94.

Equifax Trading Up 1.6 %

Equifax stock opened at $256.15 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $258.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $227.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.82 billion, a PE ratio of 58.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.51. Equifax Inc. has a 12-month low of $159.95 and a 12-month high of $275.10.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The credit services provider reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.36% and a return on equity of 19.40%. The business’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.45%.

Equifax Company 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.