Wells Fargo & Company Upgrades Equifax (NYSE:EFX) to “Strong-Buy”

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) was upgraded by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Tuesday, Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also commented on EFX. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Equifax from $272.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Equifax from $273.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Equifax from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Citigroup increased their price target on Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Equifax in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price objective for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $290.13.

Equifax Stock Up 1.4 %

Equifax stock opened at $296.38 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $36.64 billion, a PE ratio of 66.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. Equifax has a fifty-two week low of $159.95 and a fifty-two week high of $296.79. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $256.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $251.14.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.09. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.88% and a net margin of 10.67%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.71 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Equifax will post 7.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In related news, CFO John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 3,650 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP James M. Griggs sold 2,410 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.60, for a total value of $575,026.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,193,238.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 3,650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.24, for a total value of $836,726.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,263,083.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 14,238 shares of company stock worth $3,492,928. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equifax

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Equifax by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 292,914 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $78,360,000 after acquiring an additional 3,164 shares during the last quarter. Weitz Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 5.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 7,500 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at about $917,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 8,668 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgefront Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equifax during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,274,000. 96.20% of the stock is currently 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.