J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Invests $223,000 in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 900 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its position in shares of Equifax by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 2,022 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $500,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust grew its position in shares of Equifax by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 1,507 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $373,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Equifax by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 904 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $166,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its position in shares of Equifax by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 4,287 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $768,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. grew its position in shares of Equifax by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 17,258 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,268,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. TheStreet raised shares of Equifax from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, December 29th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Equifax from $275.00 to $260.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Equifax from $291.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned 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 $270.19.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EFX opened at $226.24 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $255.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $232.42. Equifax Inc. has a twelve month low of $159.95 and a twelve month high of $275.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.96 billion, a PE ratio of 50.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.51.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.06. Equifax had a net margin of 10.42% and a return on equity of 19.08%. The firm had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.43 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Equifax Inc. will post 7.36 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. Equifax’s payout ratio is 34.74%.

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.