Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Price Target Lowered to $286.00 at Oppenheimer

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) had its target price decreased by Oppenheimer from $315.00 to $286.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Equifax in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $360.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $306.74.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of EFX stock opened at $253.58 on Tuesday. Equifax has a 52-week low of $208.67 and a 52-week high of $309.63. The stock has a market cap of $31.43 billion, a PE ratio of 56.35, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $277.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $267.73.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.76 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Equifax will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.67%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 109,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,532,909.67. This trade represents a 34.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total transaction of $272,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. This trade represents a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equifax

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equifax during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equifax during the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 76.1% during the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equifax during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Equifax by 138.2% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 131 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

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.