Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $200.00

Equifax, Inc. (NYSE:EFX) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-one analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $200.55.

EFX has been the topic of several recent research reports. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on Equifax from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Loop Capital set a $169.00 price objective on Equifax in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Equifax from $225.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings raised Equifax from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Equifax from $230.00 to $210.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd.

Equifax Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of Equifax stock opened at $184.66 on Friday. Equifax has a 1 year low of $137.01 and a 1 year high of $228.67. The firm has a market cap of $21.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.83, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a 50-day moving average of $166.39 and a 200 day moving average of $177.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 20th. The credit services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.69 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 22.48%. Equifax’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.04 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equifax will post 8.50 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st were given a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 31st. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is 36.19%.

Insider Activity

In other Equifax news, CEO Mark Begor sold 37,792 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.80, for a total transaction of $6,908,377.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 289,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,997,741.60. This trade represents a 11.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 4,500 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.96, for a total transaction of $845,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 69,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,979,577.80. This trade represents a 6.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equifax

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equifax during the second quarter valued at $1,491,357,000. Soroban Capital Partners LP increased its holdings in Equifax by 310.5% in the 1st quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,184,569 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $753,515,000 after buying an additional 3,165,120 shares in the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in Equifax in the 2nd quarter worth about $290,868,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Equifax in the 2nd quarter worth about $187,215,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Equifax in the 2nd quarter worth about $174,843,000. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equifax Company Profile

Equifax Inc (NYSE: EFX) is a global data, analytics and technology company that provides information and services to help businesses, governments and consumers make informed financial and workforce decisions. The company is best known for its credit reporting activities, but its offerings also include identity verification, fraud prevention, income and employment verification, marketing services and risk management solutions.

Equifax provides consumer and commercial credit information, credit reports and related analytics to lenders and other businesses.