Analysts Set Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) PT at $306.95

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and sixteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $307.74.

EFX has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Equifax in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $360.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Equifax from $273.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.85, for a total value of $845,550.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,065,118.75. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equifax

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EFX. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 72.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,514,093 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $405,051,000 after buying an additional 633,887 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Equifax by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,045,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,757,425,000 after purchasing an additional 342,170 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Equifax by 70.2% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 739,492 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $182,869,000 after buying an additional 305,028 shares in the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 3,856,248 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $953,612,000 after buying an additional 298,846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Equifax by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,895,487 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,436,215,000 after acquiring an additional 204,481 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Equifax Trading Down 0.7 %

EFX opened at $284.24 on Friday. Equifax has a twelve month low of $159.95 and a twelve month high of $309.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $294.11 and a 200-day moving average of $261.83. The stock has a market cap of $35.14 billion, a PE ratio of 63.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.09. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.88% and a net margin of 10.67%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.71 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Equifax will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Equifax’s payout ratio is 34.74%.

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.