Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Purchases 50,305 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 90.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 105,940 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 50,305 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.09% of Equifax worth $26,999,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of EFX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Equifax by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,389,505 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,667,165,000 after buying an additional 135,009 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Equifax by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,957,204 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $751,645,000 after acquiring an additional 71,543 shares in the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC increased its position in Equifax by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,835,102 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $467,676,000 after purchasing an additional 9,702 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Equifax by 95.9% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,617,574 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $412,239,000 after purchasing an additional 791,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 4th quarter worth about $330,400,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Argus cut shares of Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Equifax in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $280.00 target price on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equifax currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $292.31.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of EFX opened at $221.43 on Friday. Equifax Inc. has a twelve month low of $199.98 and a twelve month high of $309.63. The company has a market capitalization of $27.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $236.87 and a 200 day moving average of $255.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.12. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

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.