Equinix’s (EQIX) “Market Outperform” Rating Reiterated at JMP Securities

JMP Securities reaffirmed their market outperform rating on shares of Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) in a report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $1,200.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on EQIX. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Equinix from $1,030.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho lowered their target price on Equinix from $1,094.00 to $1,053.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 28th. BNP Paribas upgraded Equinix to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. New Street Research upgraded Equinix to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target on Equinix from $1,040.00 to $1,030.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and six have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Equinix has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,004.65.

Equinix Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EQIX opened at $863.46 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $827.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $891.59. The stock has a market cap of $84.46 billion, a PE ratio of 100.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. Equinix has a one year low of $701.41 and a one year high of $994.03.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $9.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.01 by $0.66. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.23 billion. Equinix had a return on equity of 6.31% and a net margin of 9.32%. Equinix’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $8.86 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Equinix will post 33.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be given a $4.69 dividend. This represents a $18.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 195.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Kurt Pletcher sold 127 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $877.70, for a total value of $111,467.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,616,723.40. This represents a 6.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Christopher B. Paisley sold 100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $869.41, for a total value of $86,941.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,274,664.29. This represents a 0.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equinix

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQIX. Activest Wealth Management increased its holdings in Equinix by 121.4% in the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 31 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Equinix during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Equinix during the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equinix during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Saudi Central Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Equinix during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equinix Company Profile

Equinix (Nasdaq: EQIX) is the world's digital infrastructure company . Digital leaders harness Equinix's trusted platform to bring together and interconnect foundational infrastructure at software speed. Equinix enables organizations to access all the right places, partners and possibilities to scale with agility, speed the launch of digital services, deliver world-class experiences and multiply their value, while supporting their sustainability goals.