Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Given “Buy” Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Equifax (NYSE:EFX)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $350.00 target price on the credit services provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 29.68% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on EFX. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.47.

Equifax Stock Performance

EFX opened at $269.89 on Monday. Equifax has a 1-year low of $159.95 and a 1-year high of $309.63. The company has a market cap of $33.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.98, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.58. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $293.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $263.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.76 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Equifax will post 7.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equifax

In other news, EVP Carla Chaney sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.85, for a total value of $845,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,065,118.75. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equifax

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Equifax by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,045,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,757,425,000 after purchasing an additional 342,170 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,033,448 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,754,228,000 after purchasing an additional 137,961 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Equifax by 4.9% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,276,798 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,036,952,000 after buying an additional 200,665 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Equifax by 2.4% during the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,044,561 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $738,184,000 after buying an additional 70,091 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Equifax by 72.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,514,093 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $405,051,000 after buying an additional 633,887 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.