Brokerages Set Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Price Target at $270.19

Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $270.19.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Equifax from $275.00 to $260.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a report on Thursday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Equifax from $276.00 to $241.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Equifax from $291.00 to $272.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Karen L. Fichuk acquired 415 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $238.77 per share, for a total transaction of $99,089.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $789,134.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Equifax news, CFO John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 3,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.24, for a total transaction of $836,726.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,219 shares in the company, valued at $14,263,083.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Karen L. Fichuk acquired 415 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was bought at an average price of $238.77 per share, for a total transaction of $99,089.55. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $789,134.85. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 83,635 shares of company stock worth $18,969,282. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equifax

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EFX. Weitz Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. now owns 153,500 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $37,959,000 after acquiring an additional 7,500 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at about $917,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in Equifax by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 330,453 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $81,718,000 after buying an additional 8,668 shares in the last quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC bought a new stake in Equifax during the fourth quarter worth about $1,274,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 102,136 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $25,257,000 after buying an additional 14,629 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Stock Performance

NYSE:EFX opened at $242.46 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $236.23 and a 200-day moving average of $246.46. The firm has a market cap of $29.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Equifax has a twelve month low of $159.95 and a twelve month high of $275.10.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.42% and a return on equity of 19.08%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.43 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Equifax will post 7.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is 34.74%.

Equifax Company Profile

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.