Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Given New $281.00 Price Target at Stifel Nicolaus

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) had its target price lowered by Stifel Nicolaus from $284.00 to $281.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

EFX has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. BNP Paribas raised Equifax from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Wolfe Research lowered Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $300.71.

Equifax Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE EFX opened at $248.59 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Equifax has a 12-month low of $213.02 and a 12-month high of $309.63. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $261.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $274.75. The company has a market cap of $30.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.58.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. Equities research analysts expect that Equifax will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.39, for a total value of $143,474.89. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,697 shares in the company, valued at $3,045,781.83. This trade represents a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equifax

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Equifax by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 58,120 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $14,812,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Equifax by 66.8% in the fourth quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 30,054 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,659,000 after buying an additional 12,035 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its position in Equifax by 78.9% during the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 254 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its stake in shares of Equifax by 58.3% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 1,860 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $474,000 after purchasing an additional 685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in Equifax by 29.0% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,050 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.