The Goldman Sachs Group Raises Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Price Target to $277.00

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) had its price objective increased by The Goldman Sachs Group from $246.00 to $277.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Equifax from $291.00 to $272.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Equifax from $275.00 to $260.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $273.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Equifax in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. They set an outperform rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Equifax from $255.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $283.19.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of EFX stock opened at $260.30 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $32.18 billion, a PE ratio of 57.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.56. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $242.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $246.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. Equifax has a twelve month low of $159.95 and a twelve month high of $276.69.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.67% and a return on equity of 18.88%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.71 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Equifax will post 7.35 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 23rd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.74%.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other Equifax news, CFO John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 3,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.24, for a total transaction of $836,726.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,263,083.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Equifax news, EVP Rodolfo O. Ploder sold 14,097 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.45, for a total transaction of $3,178,168.65. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 75,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,126,083.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 3,650 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.24, for a total value of $836,726.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,263,083.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 83,635 shares of company stock valued at $18,969,282 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equifax

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EFX. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. First Community Trust NA acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.