Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Receives Overweight Rating from Morgan Stanley

Equifax (NYSE:EFX)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reiterated by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $305.00 target price on the credit services provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $295.00. Morgan Stanley’s price target indicates a potential upside of 12.25% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Bank of America started coverage on Equifax in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $280.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Equifax from $277.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Argus lowered Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $295.00 price target on shares of Equifax in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Equifax from $288.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $293.75.

Equifax Price Performance

Equifax stock opened at $271.72 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $251.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $253.24. Equifax has a one year low of $199.98 and a one year high of $309.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $33.75 billion, a PE ratio of 56.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.08. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Equifax will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.61, for a total transaction of $5,686,477.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total value of $518,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,176 shares in the company, valued at $16,887,101.60. The trade was a 2.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equifax

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EFX. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Equifax in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 1,920.0% in the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 101 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Equifax in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equifax in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its stake in shares of Equifax by 505.0% in the 4th 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. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

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.