Analysts Set Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) PT at $306.74

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fifteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $306.74.

Several research firms have weighed in on EFX. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Equifax from $315.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. BNP Paribas raised Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 $29,532,909.67. This represents a 34.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total value of $272,920.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. The trade was a 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equifax

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equifax during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in Equifax during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Equifax by 76.1% during the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equifax during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Equifax by 138.2% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 131 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of EFX opened at $258.94 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $32.10 billion, a PE ratio of 57.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.59. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $276.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $268.36. Equifax has a fifty-two week low of $208.67 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.76 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Equifax will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Equifax’s payout ratio is 34.67%.

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.