Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) Lowered to “Sector Perform” Rating by Scotiabank

Scotiabank lowered shares of Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) from a sector outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $1,050.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $997.00.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,075.00 price objective on shares of Equinix in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,127.00 price objective (up from $1,087.00) on shares of Equinix in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Equinix from $870.00 to $1,020.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Equinix from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Equinix in a report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,128.00 price objective on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,019.27.

Equinix Stock Down 0.9%

EQIX stock opened at $1,007.29 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $98.97 billion, a PE ratio of 73.26, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $935.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $837.88. Equinix has a one year low of $701.41 and a one year high of $1,016.39.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $8.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.07 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $2.42 billion for 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $7.92 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Equinix will post 33.1 EPS for the current year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $5.16 per share. This represents a $20.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. This is a boost from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.69. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 25th. Equinix’s payout ratio is currently 150.11%.

Insider Activity at Equinix

In other Equinix news, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 630 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $961.19, for a total transaction of $605,549.70. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 10,394 shares in the company, valued at $9,990,608.86. This represents a 5.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Charles J. Meyers sold 305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $961.19, for a total transaction of $293,162.95. Following the sale, the chairman owned 12,594 shares in the company, valued at $12,105,226.86. This trade represents a 2.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 16,842 shares of company stock valued at $14,494,840. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equinix

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EQIX. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Equinix by 28.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $307,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Equinix by 11.5% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 522 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $425,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Equinix by 21.8% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,487,000 after buying an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Equinix during the second quarter worth about $231,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Equinix by 6.3% during the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $269,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.