Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Stock Price

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley cut its Equifax price target from $225 to $205 but maintained an “overweight” rating, implying approximately 38.5% upside from the stock’s $148.03 price.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive: 15 analysts rate Equifax a Buy and six rate it a Hold, resulting in a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $203.15.
• Equifax exceeded quarterly earnings expectations with $2.25 in EPS versus a $2.20 estimate, while revenue rose 10.6% year over year to $1.70 billion; however, company insiders recently sold shares under pre-arranged trading plans.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) had its price objective dropped by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $205.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the credit services provider's stock. Morgan Stanley's target price would indicate a potential upside of 38.49% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Equifax from $212.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $208.00 price objective on Equifax and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Equifax from $179.00 to $160.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Equifax from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group set a $160.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $203.15.

Equifax Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of Equifax stock traded up $0.69 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $148.03. The company had a trading volume of 215,290 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,724,802. The company has a market cap of $17.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.35. The firm's fifty day moving average is $169.35 and its 200-day moving average is $170.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.60. Equifax has a fifty-two week low of $137.01 and a fifty-two week high of $238.94.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The credit services provider reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.05. Equifax had a net margin of 10.73% and a return on equity of 21.61%. The business had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.00 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equifax has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.150-2.250 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 8.390-8.690 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Equifax will post 8.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Begor sold 37,791 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.16, for a total transaction of $6,506,098.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 271,890 shares in the company, valued at $46,808,582.40. This represents a 12.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.96, for a total value of $845,820.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 69,055 shares in the company, valued at $12,979,577.80. The trade was a 6.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Equifax

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EFX. Reflection Asset Management bought a new position in Equifax during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Clearstead Trust LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Ballast Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equifax in the first quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Equifax during the second quarter worth about $33,000. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Equifax

Equifax Inc NYSE: EFX is a global data, analytics and technology company that helps businesses, government agencies and consumers make informed decisions about credit, identity, employment and financial risk. The company collects and analyzes information from a broad range of sources to provide insights and decisioning tools for lenders, employers, insurers, telecommunications providers and other organizations.

Its products and services include consumer and commercial credit reports, credit scores, fraud and identity-management solutions, marketing and customer-acquisition analytics, and income and employment verification through The Work Number.

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