Oppenheimer Raises Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Price Target to $300.00

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) had its target price hoisted by Oppenheimer from $272.00 to $300.00 in a report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on EFX. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Equifax from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America raised their price target on Equifax from $255.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on Equifax from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Equifax from $290.00 to $273.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Equifax from $246.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $283.19.

Equifax Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of EFX opened at $260.30 on Friday. Equifax has a 1 year low of $159.95 and a 1 year high of $276.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $242.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $246.98. The stock has a market cap of $32.18 billion, a PE ratio of 57.97, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.56.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.09. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.88% and a net margin of 10.67%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.71 EPS. Equifax’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Equifax will post 7.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Equifax

In other news, CFO John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 3,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.24, for a total value of $836,726.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,263,083.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 3,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 62,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,263,083.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Carla Chaney sold 5,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $1,235,626.14. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,029,028.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 83,635 shares of company stock worth $18,969,282 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equifax

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Equifax during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Equifax during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. First Community Trust NA acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. 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.