Needham & Company LLC Reiterates Buy Rating for Equifax (NYSE:EFX)

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $295.00 price target on the credit services provider's stock. Needham & Company LLC's target price would indicate a potential upside of 16.37% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on EFX. Bank of America assumed coverage on Equifax in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Equifax from $288.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. BNP Paribas cut shares of Equifax from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $305.00 price target (up previously from $295.00) on shares of Equifax in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $294.63.

Equifax Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE:EFX opened at $253.50 on Friday. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $258.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $253.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Equifax has a fifty-two week low of $199.98 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.48 billion, a PE ratio of 51.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.08. Equifax had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 18.81%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Equifax will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 142,395 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $36,539,980.95. The trade was a 13.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total value of $518,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,176 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,887,101.60. This represents a 2.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equifax

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EFX. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in Equifax by 1,920.0% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 101 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equifax in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Equifax in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Colonial Trust Co SC grew its holdings in Equifax by 505.0% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 121 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new stake in Equifax in the first quarter worth $32,000. 96.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.