Brokerages Set Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) PT at $311.81

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fifteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $311.12.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Equifax from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $275.00 to $320.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Equifax from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EFX opened at $262.87 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $32.58 billion, a PE ratio of 58.42, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.57. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $258.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $273.04. Equifax has a twelve month low of $213.02 and a twelve month high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.01. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.76 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Equifax will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total transaction of $143,474.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,697 shares in the company, valued at $3,045,781.83. The trade was a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total value of $272,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares in the company, valued at $3,075,535.48. This represents a 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 59,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,187,044. Company insiders own 1.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equifax

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EFX. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Equifax by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,816,186 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,415,284,000 after buying an additional 52,489 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Equifax by 4.9% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,276,798 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,036,952,000 after purchasing an additional 200,665 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Equifax by 37.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $950,268,000 after purchasing an additional 880,162 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,044,561 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $738,184,000 after purchasing an additional 70,091 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,885,661 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $845,041,000 after purchasing an additional 29,742 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.