Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Price Target Cut to $260.00 by Analysts at BMO Capital Markets

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) had its target price decreased by research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $280.00 to $260.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "market perform" rating on the credit services provider's stock. BMO Capital Markets' price target points to a potential upside of 5.56% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on EFX. Bank of America downgraded Equifax from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $300.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $305.00 price objective (up from $295.00) on shares of Equifax in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Equifax from $277.00 to $272.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays reduced their price objective on Equifax from $260.00 to $240.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Equifax in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Equifax has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $285.00.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of Equifax stock traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $246.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 968,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,080,253. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $261.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $253.16. Equifax has a 12-month low of $199.98 and a 12-month high of $309.63. The company has a market cap of $30.49 billion, a PE ratio of 48.20, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The credit services provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.92 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 10.95%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Equifax will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In related news, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total transaction of $518,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 65,176 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,887,101.60. The trade was a 2.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.61, for a total value of $5,686,477.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 142,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,539,980.95. The trade was a 13.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Equifax by 2.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,708,331 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $3,582,361,000 after buying an additional 318,826 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Equifax by 40.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,037,804 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,714,129,000 after buying an additional 2,009,987 shares during the last quarter. Harris Associates L P grew its position in Equifax by 27.6% in the first quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 4,570,557 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,113,205,000 after buying an additional 987,772 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its position in Equifax by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,123,701 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $796,075,000 after purchasing an additional 11,861 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Equifax by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,957,204 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $751,645,000 after purchasing an additional 71,543 shares during the period. 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.