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

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

EFX has been the topic of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Equifax from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $275.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Equifax currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $311.67.

Equifax Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE EFX opened at $265.95 on Thursday. Equifax has a 52 week low of $213.02 and a 52 week high of $309.63. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $267.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $269.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap of $32.96 billion, a PE ratio of 59.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.57.

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

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other Equifax news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total transaction of $143,474.89. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,045,781.83. This trade represents a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $15,770,648.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,532,909.67. This trade represents a 34.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 59,855 shares of company stock worth $16,187,044. 1.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EFX. State Street Corp increased its stake in Equifax by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,816,186 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,415,284,000 after buying an additional 52,489 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Equifax by 4.9% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,276,798 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,036,952,000 after acquiring an additional 200,665 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Equifax by 37.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $950,268,000 after purchasing an additional 880,162 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Equifax by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,044,561 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $738,184,000 after purchasing an additional 70,091 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Equifax by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,885,661 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $845,041,000 after purchasing an additional 29,742 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.