Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Lowered to Peer Perform Rating by Wolfe Research

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wolfe Research from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Equifax from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $275.00 to $320.00 in a report on Thursday. BNP Paribas upgraded Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Equifax in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $360.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $311.67.

Equifax Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of EFX opened at $265.95 on Thursday. Equifax has a 12-month low of $213.02 and a 12-month high of $309.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.57. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $267.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $269.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.76 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Equifax will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total value of $15,770,648.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at $29,532,909.67. This represents a 34.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total transaction of $143,474.89. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,045,781.83. This represents a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 59,855 shares of company stock worth $16,187,044 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equifax

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EFX. Brookstone Capital Management grew its position in shares of Equifax by 8.5% during the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 26,675 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,916,000 after acquiring an additional 2,085 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Equifax by 23.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,365 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,241,000 after purchasing an additional 2,499 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Equifax during the 2nd quarter worth $15,646,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in Equifax by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 54,509 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $13,216,000 after purchasing an additional 2,047 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Equifax by 16.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 584,820 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $141,789,000 after purchasing an additional 81,966 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

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.