Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Needham & Company LLC

Equifax (NYSE:EFX)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $350.00 price target on the credit services provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price indicates a potential upside of 29.68% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on EFX. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Equifax from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Equifax in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Equifax from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Equifax in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $360.00 target price on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.47.

Equifax Price Performance

NYSE:EFX opened at $269.89 on Monday. Equifax has a 52-week low of $159.95 and a 52-week high of $309.63. The company has a market cap of $33.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $293.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $263.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. The business’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.76 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Equifax will post 7.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.85, for a total value of $845,550.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,065,118.75. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equifax

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax during the first quarter worth $30,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Equifax by 76.1% in the second quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equifax during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 138.2% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 131 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Community Trust NA acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.