Morgan Stanley Upgrades Equifax (NYSE:EFX) to Overweight

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Equifax (NYSE:EFX) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $320.00 price target on the credit services provider’s stock, up from their prior price target of $275.00.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on EFX. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Equifax from $304.00 to $283.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on Equifax in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $360.00 target price on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $311.67.

Equifax Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE EFX opened at $265.29 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.57. Equifax has a 52 week low of $213.02 and a 52 week high of $309.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $268.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $269.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

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

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.67%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was 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 owns 11,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,045,781.83. This trade represents a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total value of $272,920.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. The trade was a 8.15 % 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 valued at $16,187,044 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equifax

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in shares of Equifax by 8.5% during the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 26,675 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,916,000 after acquiring an additional 2,085 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Equifax by 23.0% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,365 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,241,000 after buying an additional 2,499 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Equifax in the second quarter valued at $15,646,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Equifax by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 54,509 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $13,216,000 after acquiring an additional 2,047 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Equifax by 16.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 584,820 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $141,789,000 after purchasing an additional 81,966 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.