Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday after Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on the stock from $1,050.00 to $1,010.00. The stock had previously closed at $824.31, but opened at $791.04. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Equinix shares last traded at $716.91, with a volume of 568,602 shares changing hands.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Equinix in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Cfra Research raised Equinix from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. TD Securities raised their price target on Equinix from $978.00 to $1,018.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. New Street Research upgraded Equinix to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Equinix from $834.00 to $837.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and six have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $977.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 transaction of $86,941.00. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 2,949 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $884.91, for a total transaction of $2,609,599.59. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 9,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,508,409.65. This represents a 23.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 3,176 shares of company stock valued at $2,808,008. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs acquired a new stake in shares of Equinix during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,296,000. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Equinix by 27.0% during the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 222,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $181,368,000 after purchasing an additional 47,262 shares in the last quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON grew its holdings in Equinix by 2.7% in the first quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 73,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $59,681,000 after purchasing an additional 1,942 shares during the period. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. grew its holdings in Equinix by 10.4% in the first quarter. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. now owns 3,931 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,205,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank increased its position in shares of Equinix by 34.2% in the first quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 663 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $541,000 after buying an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Equinix Trading Down 9.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 1.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $867.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $882.41.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $9.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.01 by $0.66. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.23 billion. Equinix had a net margin of 10.48% and a return on equity of 6.96%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $8.86 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 EPS for the current year.

Equinix Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st were paid a $4.69 dividend. This represents a $18.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio is presently 195.01%.

About Equinix

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.