Fifth Third Bancorp Has $7.58 Million Stake in Equinix, Inc. $EQIX

Fifth Third Bancorp lowered its holdings in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 10.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,099 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Equinix were worth $7,578,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in EQIX. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equinix by 21.1% during the 2nd quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equinix by 1.4% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 544,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $426,444,000 after purchasing an additional 7,409 shares in the last quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Equinix by 5.1% during the third 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 period. Foresight Group Ltd Liability Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Equinix by 10.0% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Equinix by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 483,483 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $376,193,000 after buying an additional 32,790 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Equinix Stock Performance

EQIX opened at $951.97 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Equinix, Inc. has a 12-month low of $701.41 and a 12-month high of $992.90. The business has a 50 day moving average of $801.23 and a 200-day moving average of $791.93. The stock has a market cap of $93.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.23, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.06.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). 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 quarter last year, the company posted $7.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $5.16 per share. This represents a $20.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.69. Equinix’s payout ratio is presently 136.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Raouf Abdel sold 927 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 7,337 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,882,659.86. This trade represents a 11.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 2,894 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $731.09, for a total value of $2,115,774.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,040,658.94. This trade represents a 18.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 14,353 shares of company stock worth $11,283,043 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Equinix from $950.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Equinix in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Equinix from $933.00 to $985.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Equinix from $925.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $915.00 price target on Equinix in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $996.23.

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.