Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Receives Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $295.00 target price on the credit services provider's stock. Needham & Company LLC's price objective indicates a potential upside of 20.05% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Equifax in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $280.00 price objective for the company. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Equifax to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Equifax currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $292.00.

Equifax Stock Up 14.1 %

Shares of NYSE:EFX opened at $245.74 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $235.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $254.35. The company has a market capitalization of $30.67 billion, a PE ratio of 50.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. Equifax has a twelve month low of $199.98 and a twelve month high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.08. Equifax had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Equifax will post 7.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Equifax

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EFX. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $330,400,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 7,883,233.3% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 946,000 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $241,087,000 after purchasing an additional 945,988 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Equifax by 95.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,617,574 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $412,239,000 after purchasing an additional 791,730 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Equifax by 24,315.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 696,094 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $169,541,000 after buying an additional 693,243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Equifax by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,027,817 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,281,340,000 after buying an additional 679,688 shares during the period. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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