Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 19,927 Shares of Equinix, Inc. $EQIX

Alliancebernstein L.P. cut its holdings in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 223,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 19,927 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.23% of Equinix worth $175,059,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its position in Equinix by 433.3% during the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 32 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Abound Wealth Management raised its position in Equinix by 209.1% in the third quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 34 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd purchased a new position in Equinix in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in shares of Equinix during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in shares of Equinix by 40.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 45 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equinix Stock Up 1.5%

EQIX opened at $984.46 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $876.03 and a 200 day moving average of $815.44. The company has a market cap of $96.73 billion, a PE ratio of 71.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.04. Equinix, Inc. has a 12 month low of $701.41 and a 12 month high of $992.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $8.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.07 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. Equinix had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $7.92 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 EPS for the current year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $5.16 per share. This represents a $20.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.69. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio is presently 150.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. HSBC set a $1,050.00 price target on shares of Equinix and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Equinix from $950.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered Equinix from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Equinix in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $1,075.00 price target on shares of Equinix in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,006.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equinix

In other news, EVP Raouf Abdel sold 584 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $965.69, for a total transaction of $563,962.96. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 7,768 shares in the company, valued at $7,501,479.92. This represents a 6.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 630 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $961.19, for a total transaction of $605,549.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 10,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,990,608.86. The trade was a 5.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 16,842 shares of company stock worth $14,494,840 in the last three months. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Equinix

Equinix, Inc is a global provider of digital infrastructure and interconnection services, specializing in carrier-neutral data centers and colocation. The company operates a platform that enables enterprises, cloud and network service providers, and content companies to colocate IT infrastructure, interconnect directly with partners and providers, and access cloud on-ramps and network services in a secure, low-latency environment.

Equinix’s offerings include traditional colocation space and power, cross-connects and meet-me rooms, and a suite of connectivity and on-demand services designed for hybrid multicloud architectures.