Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Price Target Lowered to $300.00 at Jefferies Financial Group

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) had its price target reduced by Jefferies Financial Group from $340.00 to $300.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

EFX has been the subject of several other reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Equifax from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley raised Equifax from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $275.00 to $320.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $311.12.

Equifax Stock Performance

EFX opened at $264.61 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $258.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $272.92. The company has a market capitalization of $32.80 billion, a PE ratio of 58.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.57. Equifax has a 1 year low of $213.02 and a 1 year high of $309.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.76 EPS. Research analysts expect that Equifax will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total transaction of $272,920.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,269 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. This trade represents a 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total value of $15,770,648.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,532,909.67. This represents a 34.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 59,855 shares of company stock worth $16,187,044 over the last 90 days. 1.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equifax

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equifax in the second quarter valued at $15,646,000. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Equifax by 2.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 184,890 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $54,329,000 after purchasing an additional 5,097 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Equifax by 16.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 584,820 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $141,789,000 after purchasing an additional 81,966 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Equifax by 3.7% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,397 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,880,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Equifax by 84.1% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,016,000 after purchasing an additional 3,135 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is 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.