Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) Shares Acquired by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 10.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 22,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,107 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Equinix were worth $21,136,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Equinix by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,826,082 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,171,405,000 after buying an additional 81,941 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Equinix by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,350,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,079,591,000 after buying an additional 33,277 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Equinix by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,894,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,681,256,000 after buying an additional 5,910 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Equinix by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,338,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,188,180,000 after purchasing an additional 203,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Equinix by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,134,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,006,724,000 after purchasing an additional 53,729 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equinix Stock Performance

NASDAQ EQIX opened at $933.60 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $90.08 billion, a PE ratio of 84.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. Equinix, Inc. has a twelve month low of $684.14 and a twelve month high of $994.03. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $935.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $894.96.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $7.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $5.17. Equinix had a return on equity of 8.34% and a net margin of 12.29%. Equities analysts anticipate that Equinix, Inc. will post 31.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a dividend of $4.69 per share. This represents a $18.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. This is a boost from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 153.65%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on EQIX. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Equinix from $995.00 to $1,080.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Equinix from $945.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays increased their price objective on Equinix from $810.00 to $822.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Equinix from $950.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Equinix from $865.00 to $984.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equinix presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $994.82.

Insider Activity at Equinix

In related news, CFO Keith D. Taylor sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $971.18, for a total transaction of $1,456,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,966 shares in the company, valued at $18,419,399.88. This trade represents a 7.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Christopher B. Paisley sold 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.00, for a total value of $89,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,854,454. This trade represents a 0.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,801 shares of company stock worth $15,530,564 in the last three months. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Equinix Profile

Equinix (Nasdaq: EQIX) is the world's digital infrastructure company . Digital leaders harness Equinix's trusted platform to bring together and interconnect foundational infrastructure at software speed. Equinix enables organizations to access all the right places, partners and possibilities to scale with agility, speed the launch of digital services, deliver world-class experiences and multiply their value, while supporting their sustainability goals.