Stifel Nicolaus Cuts Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Price Target to $284.00

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) had its target price trimmed by Stifel Nicolaus from $305.00 to $284.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on EFX. Morgan Stanley raised 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. BNP Paribas raised shares of Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays raised their price objective on Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Equifax from $315.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $306.74.

Equifax Stock Up 0.4 %

EFX stock opened at $253.58 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $277.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $267.95. The company has a market cap of $31.43 billion, a PE ratio of 56.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Equifax has a 52 week low of $208.67 and a 52 week high of $309.63.

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

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,532,909.67. This represents a 34.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total transaction of $272,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. This trade represents a 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equifax

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Equifax in the third quarter worth approximately $95,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equifax during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,797,000. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in Equifax by 23.4% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 44,626 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $13,114,000 after purchasing an additional 8,467 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 64.0% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,865 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $540,000 after buying an additional 728 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashford Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equifax in the third quarter valued at $1,790,000. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.