Oppenheimer Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Stock Price

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) had its price target cut by Oppenheimer from $286.00 to $279.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the credit services provider's stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on EFX. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Equifax from $321.00 to $313.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Equifax in a report on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Three 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 has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $301.69.

Equifax Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EFX traded down $1.20 during trading on Friday, hitting $251.70. 432,832 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,020,938. The company has a market cap of $31.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.11, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Equifax has a 1 year low of $213.02 and a 1 year high of $309.63. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $261.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $274.82.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.12. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Equifax will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Equifax's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equifax news, EVP Lisa M. Nelson sold 551 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $3,045,781.83. This trade represents a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of 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 grew its stake in shares of 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 grew its stake in shares of 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. Cantillon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Equifax by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,835,102 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $467,676,000 after purchasing an additional 9,702 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of 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. Institutional investors own 96.20% of the company's stock.

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.