Equifax (NYSE:EFX) PT Raised to $290.00 at Robert W. Baird

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) had its target price raised by Robert W. Baird from $260.00 to $290.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Bank of America raised their target price on Equifax from $255.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Equifax in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. They issued an outperform rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Equifax from $291.00 to $272.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $273.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Equifax from $246.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $283.19.

Equifax Stock Performance

Shares of EFX stock opened at $260.30 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The business has a fifty day moving average of $242.61 and a 200 day moving average of $246.98. Equifax has a 1 year low of $159.95 and a 1 year high of $276.69.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.88% and a net margin of 10.67%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.71 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Equifax will post 7.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.74%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP James M. Griggs sold 2,410 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.60, for a total value of $575,026.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 5,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,193,238.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Equifax news, CFO John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 3,650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.24, for a total transaction of $836,726.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,263,083.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP James M. Griggs sold 2,410 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.60, for a total value of $575,026.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,193,238.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 83,635 shares of company stock worth $18,969,282. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equifax

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $248,000. Apeiron RIA LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at $210,000. CX Institutional grew its position in shares of Equifax by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 4,651 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,150,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares during the period. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at $1,240,000. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Equifax by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,956 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,193,000 after acquiring an additional 809 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.