Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX – Get Rating) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $779.28.

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Equinix from $800.00 to $820.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Equinix from $675.00 to $785.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 14th. Cowen raised Equinix from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $811.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 13th. Cowen raised Equinix from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $811.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 13th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group dropped their price target on Equinix from $762.00 to $753.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 16th.

Equinix Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EQIX opened at $694.99 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $64.48 billion, a PE ratio of 90.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.61. Equinix has a fifty-two week low of $494.89 and a fifty-two week high of $776.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 1.80. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $709.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $652.32.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.90 by ($4.51). Equinix had a net margin of 9.70% and a return on equity of 6.37%. The company had revenue of $1.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.86 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.22 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Equinix will post 27.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $3.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 6th. This is an increase from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.10. This represents a $13.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 177.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Keith D. Taylor sold 3,032 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $706.72, for a total transaction of $2,142,775.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 21,631 shares in the company, valued at $15,287,060.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Keith D. Taylor sold 3,032 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $706.72, for a total value of $2,142,775.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 21,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,287,060.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Karl Strohmeyer sold 56 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $665.03, for a total value of $37,241.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,459,952.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,971 shares of company stock worth $14,666,488 over the last three months. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equinix

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Equinix by 15.5% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 687 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $509,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Equinix by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $867,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its stake in shares of Equinix by 182.8% during the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 263 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $195,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Equinix by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Equinix by 300.0% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 172 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. 92.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Equinix

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Equinix, Inc engages in the provision of collocation space and develops data center solutions. The firm offers secure key management, consulting, network virtualization, customer support, and managed services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Middle East & Africa and Asia-Pacific.