Brokerages Set Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) PT at $311.81

Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fifteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $311.12.

EFX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas raised Equifax from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of 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 research note on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Equifax from $325.00 to $321.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $29,532,909.67. This trade represents a 34.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total transaction of $143,474.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,697 shares in the company, valued at $3,045,781.83. This trade represents a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 59,855 shares of company stock worth $16,187,044 over the last ninety days. 1.66% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equifax

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in Equifax during the second quarter valued at approximately $15,646,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 5,097 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Equifax by 16.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 81,966 shares during the period. 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 84.1% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,016,000 after purchasing an additional 3,135 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of EFX opened at $262.87 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $258.08 and a 200-day moving average of $273.51. The company has a market cap of $32.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. Equifax has a 1 year low of $213.02 and a 1 year high of $309.63.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

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

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.