Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Price Target to $321.00

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) had its target price trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $325.00 to $321.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on EFX. Wolfe Research cut Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Equifax from $315.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $309.47.

Equifax Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of Equifax stock opened at $243.97 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.57. Equifax has a 52-week low of $213.02 and a 52-week high of $309.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $259.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $272.34.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.76 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Equifax will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. Equifax’s payout ratio is currently 34.67%.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In related news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was 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 directly owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at $29,532,909.67. This represents a 34.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total value of $272,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,269 shares in the company, valued at $3,075,535.48. This trade represents a 8.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 59,855 shares of company stock valued at $16,187,044. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equifax

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EFX. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Equifax during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in Equifax in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in Equifax in the 3rd quarter worth $48,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 3rd quarter worth about $73,000. Finally, Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of Equifax during the 3rd quarter valued at about $85,000. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Equifax Company Profile

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.