William Blair Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for Equifax (NYSE:EFX)

Equifax (NYSE:EFX)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by research analysts at William Blair in a research note issued to investors on Friday,RTT News reports.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on EFX. Wolfe Research downgraded Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Equifax from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. 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 research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $307.47.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of EFX stock traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $247.41. 70,059 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 987,182. Equifax has a 12-month low of $213.02 and a 12-month high of $309.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.58. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $261.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $274.90. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.12. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. On average, analysts forecast that Equifax will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In related news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were 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 owns 11,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,045,781.83. This represents a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.66% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equifax

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Equifax in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Spire Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 98.7% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 151 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Equifax in the third quarter worth $48,000. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.