Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) Reaches New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $1,075.00 to $1,250.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Equinix traded as high as $1,041.70 and last traded at $1,046.5450, with a volume of 49487 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,030.24.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on EQIX. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Equinix in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,128.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Equinix from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. UBS Group increased their price target on Equinix from $950.00 to $1,010.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Equinix from $950.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Equinix in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $1,173.00 price target for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equinix has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,033.57.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 1,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $804.25, for a total transaction of $1,072,065.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,551 shares in the company, valued at $7,681,391.75. This trade represents a 12.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Keith D. Taylor sold 2,051 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $804.17, for a total value of $1,649,352.67. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 26,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,208,375.41. The trade was a 7.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,266 shares of company stock valued at $14,927,320. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EQIX. Purpose Unlimited Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equinix in the 4th quarter valued at about $588,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equinix by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 444,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $340,795,000 after acquiring an additional 25,259 shares during the last quarter. Stance Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Equinix in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,415,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Equinix by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 112,474 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $86,174,000 after acquiring an additional 30,572 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Equinix by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 842 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $645,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Equinix Trading Up 2.6%

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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $952.42 and its 200 day moving average is $844.66. The stock has a market cap of $104.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.01.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $8.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.07 by ($0.16). Equinix had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The business had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $7.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

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

Equinix Company Profile

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.