Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Price Target to $300.00

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) had its price objective reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $310.00 to $300.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the credit services provider's stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Bank of America cut Equifax from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $300.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Equifax in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $280.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $305.00 price target (up previously from $295.00) on shares of Equifax in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Equifax from $277.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $285.00.

Equifax Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:EFX traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $246.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 968,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,080,253. The firm has a market cap of $30.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Equifax has a 1 year low of $199.98 and a 1 year high of $309.63. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $261.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $253.09.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equifax news, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the company'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 value of $518,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 65,176 shares in the company, valued at $16,887,101.60. This represents a 2.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 142,395 shares of the company's stock, valued at $36,539,980.95. This trade represents a 13.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equifax

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EFX. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 49.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $927,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 40.0% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 1,158 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 72,135 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $18,384,000 after purchasing an additional 7,343 shares in the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at $510,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at $434,000. 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.