Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Receives “Buy” Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Equifax (NYSE:EFX)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $350.00 price objective on the credit services provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 24.87% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on EFX. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Equifax from $255.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Equifax in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $360.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Equifax in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Equifax from $273.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $309.32.

Equifax Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of EFX opened at $280.30 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $34.65 billion, a PE ratio of 62.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.58. The company’s fifty day moving average is $294.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $262.80. Equifax has a fifty-two week low of $159.95 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.67% and a return on equity of 18.88%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.76 EPS. Analysts forecast that Equifax will post 7.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In related news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.85, for a total transaction of $845,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,065,118.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equifax

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Equifax by 178.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 435 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in Equifax by 32.2% during the 3rd quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd now owns 38,718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,378,000 after purchasing an additional 9,437 shares during the period. Stratos Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Equifax during the 3rd quarter valued at about $205,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in Equifax by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 13,126 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,857,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the period. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its stake in Equifax by 435.8% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 2,170 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $638,000 after purchasing an additional 1,765 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.