The Goldman Sachs Group Lowers Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Price Target to $241.00

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) had its price objective cut by The Goldman Sachs Group from $276.00 to $241.00 in a report issued on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Equifax from $273.00 to $291.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Needham & Company LLC restated a buy rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Equifax from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $272.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $273.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Equifax from $275.00 to $260.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Equifax currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $270.19.

Equifax Stock Performance

Equifax stock opened at $218.93 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $257.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $232.21. Equifax has a twelve month low of $159.95 and a twelve month high of $275.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a market cap of $27.20 billion, a PE ratio of 48.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.51.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The credit services provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.42% and a return on equity of 19.08%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.43 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Equifax will post 7.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is 34.74%.

Institutional Trading of Equifax

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFX. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Equifax by 16,485.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 201,182 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $400,000 after buying an additional 199,969 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Equifax by 8.3% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 904 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $166,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Equifax by 9.7% during the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,405 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $807,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 70.8% in the third quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 193 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems bought a new position in shares of Equifax in the third quarter valued at $1,859,000. 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.