Oppenheimer Cuts Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Price Target to $279.00

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) had its target price cut by Oppenheimer from $286.00 to $279.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

EFX has been the topic of a number of other research reports. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Equifax from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $301.69.

Equifax Trading Up 0.4 %

EFX opened at $248.59 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $261.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $274.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Equifax has a 12 month low of $213.02 and a 12 month high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Equifax will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.30%.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total value of $143,474.89. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,045,781.83. The trade was a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equifax

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 184,890 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $54,329,000 after purchasing an additional 5,097 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Equifax by 3.7% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,397 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,880,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Equifax by 84.1% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,016,000 after buying an additional 3,135 shares in the last quarter. NS Partners Ltd increased its holdings in Equifax by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. NS Partners Ltd now owns 95,010 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $27,920,000 after buying an additional 2,094 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Equifax in the 3rd quarter valued at about $786,000. 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.