Nomura Holdings Inc. Takes Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 4,083 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,041,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Equifax by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,389,505 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,667,165,000 after buying an additional 135,009 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Equifax by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,027,817 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,281,340,000 after buying an additional 679,688 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Equifax by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,123,701 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $796,075,000 after buying an additional 11,861 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 71,543 shares during the period. Finally, Cantillon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Equifax by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,835,102 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $467,676,000 after buying an additional 9,702 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EFX has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $295.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Argus lowered shares of Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.00.

Equifax Stock Up 1.3%

Equifax stock opened at $278.84 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $34.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.68. Equifax Inc. has a 1-year low of $199.98 and a 1-year high of $309.63. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $243.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $252.52. 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 (NYSE:EFX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. Research analysts anticipate that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This is an increase from Equifax’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.90%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.61, for a total transaction of $5,686,477.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 142,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,539,980.95. The trade was a 13.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total transaction of $518,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,887,101.60. The trade was a 2.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.