Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Stock Price

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) had its target price lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $313.00 to $284.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 27.36% from the stock’s previous close.

EFX has been the subject of several other reports. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equifax in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.31.

Equifax Price Performance

NYSE EFX traded up $2.75 during trading on Monday, reaching $222.99. 48,952 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 974,135. Equifax has a 1-year low of $199.98 and a 1-year high of $309.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $240.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $257.33. The company has a market cap of $27.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.12. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Equifax will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Equifax by 39.0% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 10,843 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,775,000 after buying an additional 3,043 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Equifax by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 184,890 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $54,329,000 after buying an additional 5,097 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Equifax by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,585 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $404,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter worth about $3,572,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $412,239,000 after purchasing an additional 791,730 shares during the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.