Barclays Increases Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Price Target to $380.00

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) had its price objective boosted by research analysts at Barclays from $300.00 to $380.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 23.88% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Equifax from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Equifax in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Equifax from $272.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $301.59.

Equifax Trading Up 3.0 %

NYSE:EFX opened at $306.75 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $282.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $258.19. Equifax has a 12-month low of $159.95 and a 12-month high of $308.54. The firm has a market cap of $37.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.32, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.58.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The credit services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.09. Equifax had a net margin of 10.67% and a return on equity of 18.88%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.71 EPS. Equifax’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Equifax will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equifax news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.85, for a total value of $845,550.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,065,118.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equifax

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Conning Inc. raised its holdings in Equifax by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 848 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $206,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Equifax by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,838 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Equifax by 1.2% during the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 3,726 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $903,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Thompson Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Equifax by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,464 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,749,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in Equifax by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,038 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

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.