Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) Stock Price

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) had its target price hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $1,075.00 to $1,250.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on EQIX. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Equinix in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays boosted their price target 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. Zacks Research raised shares of Equinix from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Equinix in a report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,128.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Equinix from $950.00 to $1,010.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,033.57.

Equinix Price Performance

EQIX opened at $1,056.84 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $952.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $844.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.32. Equinix has a 52 week low of $710.52 and a 52 week high of $1,057.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.23 billion, a PE ratio of 76.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.01.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last released its 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 return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 14.65%.The business had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.92 EPS. Equinix’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Equinix will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Equinix

In related news, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 2,670 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $804.08, for a total value of $2,146,893.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 14,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,946,216.56. This represents a 15.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Raouf Abdel sold 927 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $801.78, for a total transaction of $743,250.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 7,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,882,659.86. The trade was a 11.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,266 shares of company stock worth $14,927,320. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equinix

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equinix by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 544,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $426,444,000 after buying an additional 7,409 shares during the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equinix by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 112,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $85,833,000 after buying an additional 4,241 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Equinix by 25.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,875,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,252,094,000 after buying an additional 588,967 shares during the last quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equinix by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 36,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,908,000 after buying an additional 1,805 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foresight Group Ltd Liability Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Equinix by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Foresight Group Ltd Liability Partnership now owns 26,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,425,000 after buying an additional 2,378 shares during 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.