Avanza Fonder AB Acquires 758 Shares of Equinix, Inc. $EQIX

Avanza Fonder AB increased its holdings in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 11.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 758 shares during the period. Avanza Fonder AB’s holdings in Equinix were worth $5,834,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Equinix in the 2nd quarter worth $892,431,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in Equinix by 408.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,186,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $929,312,000 after buying an additional 953,001 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Equinix by 377,167.4% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 716,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $549,190,000 after buying an additional 716,618 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Equinix by 25.8% in the third 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 period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Equinix by 3.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,249,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,971,512,000 after buying an additional 220,981 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 630 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $961.19, for a total value of $605,549.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 10,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,990,608.86. This trade represents a 5.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Raouf Abdel sold 584 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 6.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 16,842 shares of company stock valued at $14,494,840 over the last quarter. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Equinix from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Equinix in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Equinix from $950.00 to $1,010.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Equinix in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, HSBC set a $1,050.00 target price on shares of Equinix and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equinix presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,013.43.

Equinix Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:EQIX opened at $966.96 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $894.44 and its 200 day moving average is $822.32. The company has a market cap of $95.00 billion, a PE ratio of 70.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.32. Equinix, Inc. has a 1 year low of $701.41 and a 1 year high of $992.90.

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 the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $7.92 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 EPS for the current year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The business 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. This is an increase from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.69. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 25th. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.