Arvest Investments Inc. Takes $1.04 Million Position in Equinix, Inc. $EQIX

Arvest Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,044,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EQIX. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Equinix by 28.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Equinix by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,487,000 after buying an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. bought a new stake in Equinix during the second quarter worth about $231,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Equinix by 2.7% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,160,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 1,086 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $966.20, for a total value of $1,049,293.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 19,574 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,912,398.80. The trade was a 5.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan Lin sold 635 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $965.71, for a total transaction of $613,225.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 10,788 shares in the company, valued at $10,418,079.48. This trade represents a 5.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 16,842 shares of company stock worth $14,494,840. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on EQIX. Barclays lifted their price target on Equinix from $870.00 to $1,020.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Equinix from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Equinix in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Equinix from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equinix in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,016.86.

Equinix Price Performance

Shares of Equinix stock opened at $1,000.37 on Friday. 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 52 week low of $701.41 and a 52 week high of $1,006.56. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $927.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $833.96. The company has a market capitalization of $98.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.75, a PEG ratio of 2.57 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 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 company had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $7.92 EPS. Equinix’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $5.16 per share. 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 150.11%.

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.