Morgan Stanley Cuts Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Price Target to $316.00

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) had its price target cut by Morgan Stanley from $320.00 to $316.00 in a research note released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on EFX. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $315.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Equifax from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $305.00 to $284.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.88.

Equifax Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of EFX opened at $278.56 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $260.82 and its 200 day moving average is $274.76. Equifax has a fifty-two week low of $213.02 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.53 billion, a PE ratio of 61.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total value of $143,474.89. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,045,781.83. This represents a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equifax

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Equifax by 1.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,816,186 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,415,284,000 after purchasing an additional 52,489 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Equifax by 37.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $950,268,000 after purchasing an additional 880,162 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Equifax by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,885,661 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $845,041,000 after purchasing an additional 29,742 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Equifax by 95.9% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,617,574 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $412,239,000 after purchasing an additional 791,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Equifax by 76,913.8% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 960,362 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $282,212,000 after purchasing an additional 959,115 shares in the last quarter. 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.