IFP Advisors Inc Increases Holdings in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 434.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 395 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Equinix were worth $459,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Equinix during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equinix in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equinix by 108.7% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 48 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equinix in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Key Financial Inc increased its position in Equinix by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 60 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Equinix

In other Equinix news, Chairman Charles J. Meyers sold 5,788 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $909.81, for a total value of $5,265,980.28. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 15,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,859,135.73. This trade represents a 27.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Raouf Abdel sold 1,331 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $903.71, for a total value of $1,202,838.01. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,945,508.09. This represents a 16.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,741 shares of company stock worth $21,988,532. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQIX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Equinix from $1,114.00 to $1,033.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Moffett Nathanson upgraded Equinix from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $1,200.00 target price on shares of Equinix in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Equinix from $950.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised Equinix to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $994.82.

Equinix Stock Performance

EQIX opened at $904.62 on Friday. Equinix, Inc. has a 52-week low of $684.14 and a 52-week high of $994.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.05 billion, a PE ratio of 105.80, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $928.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $904.71.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $7.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $5.17. Equinix had a return on equity of 6.31% and a net margin of 9.32%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a dividend of $4.69 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $18.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. This is a positive change from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.26. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 219.42%.

About Equinix

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.