Cerity Partners LLC Buys 3,123 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 120.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,717 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,123 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Equifax were worth $1,414,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Toth Financial Advisory Corp boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 32,675 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $8,080,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 4th quarter valued at $485,000. Tobam boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 568 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 26,766 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,619,000 after purchasing an additional 1,406 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Equifax stock opened at $216.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a 50-day moving average of $257.79 and a 200 day moving average of $231.58. The firm has a market cap of $26.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.15, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.51. Equifax Inc. has a 1 year low of $159.95 and a 1 year high of $275.10.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.42% and a return on equity of 19.08%. Equifax’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.43 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Equifax’s payout ratio is 34.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EFX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Equifax from $208.00 to $289.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Equifax from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $266.35.

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.