Equifax (NYSE:EFX) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) shares gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $267.45, but opened at $258.53. Equifax shares last traded at $255.46, with a volume of 205,567 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on EFX shares. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Equifax from $277.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. BNP Paribas downgraded Equifax from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Equifax from $288.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Equifax in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised Equifax to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Equifax presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $293.75.

Equifax Stock Down 3.8%

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $256.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $253.36. The stock has a market cap of $31.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The credit services provider reported $1.53 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 firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equifax Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. This is a boost from Equifax’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 23rd. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.90%.

Insider Activity at Equifax

In other Equifax news, EVP John W. Gamble, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.10, for a total value of $518,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,887,101.60. The trade was a 2.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 22,160 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.61, for a total value of $5,686,477.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 142,395 shares in the company, valued at $36,539,980.95. The trade was a 13.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Equifax by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,585 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Equifax during the fourth quarter worth about $3,572,000. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Equifax by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,817 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $973,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equifax by 49.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Equifax by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 216,497 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $55,058,000 after buying an additional 1,215 shares in the last quarter. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.