Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Given New $283.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) had its target price lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $304.00 to $283.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on EFX. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Equifax from $250.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Equifax from $263.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Equifax from $300.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Equifax from $315.00 to $286.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $306.74.

Equifax Price Performance

Equifax stock opened at $252.92 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $278.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $267.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.20, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Equifax has a 52-week low of $208.67 and a 52-week high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.01. Equifax had a net margin of 10.07% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.76 EPS. Equifax’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Equifax will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.67%.

Insider Transactions at Equifax

In other Equifax news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total transaction of $15,770,648.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at $29,532,909.67. This represents a 34.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total value of $272,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,269 shares in the company, valued at $3,075,535.48. This represents a 8.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equifax

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Equifax by 2.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 342,170 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Equifax by 1.1% during 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 during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $1,036,952,000 after purchasing an additional 200,665 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Equifax by 37.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,233,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $950,268,000 after purchasing an additional 880,162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $738,184,000 after purchasing an additional 70,091 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.