Brokerages Set Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Target Price at $310.47

Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and sixteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $310.47.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Equifax in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Equifax from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 19th.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of EFX stock opened at $264.39 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The business has a 50 day moving average of $289.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $264.12. Equifax has a 52 week low of $170.62 and a 52 week high of $309.63. The company has a market cap of $32.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.75, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.58.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. The business’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.76 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Equifax will post 7.29 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.67%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total transaction of $15,770,648.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 109,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,532,909.67. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total transaction of $15,770,648.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 109,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,532,909.67. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total transaction of $272,920.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,075,535.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 62,304 shares of company stock valued at $16,889,119. Insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Equifax by 8.7% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 6,588 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,936,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Equifax in the third quarter worth about $769,000. Portside Wealth Group LLC raised its position in Equifax by 12.6% in the third quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,297 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS raised its position in Equifax by 27.2% in the third quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 48,862 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $14,359,000 after purchasing an additional 10,450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Equifax by 6.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 147,448 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $43,329,000 after purchasing an additional 8,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

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.