Advisors Asset Management Inc. Boosts Stake in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 21.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,682 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 991 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Equinix were worth $5,358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. increased its stake in Equinix by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 1,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,509,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equinix by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $543,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. GS Investments Inc. raised its position in Equinix by 0.5% in the third quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 2,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,087,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its position in Equinix by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 671 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $633,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Retirement Inc. lifted its position in shares of Equinix by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $920,000 after buying an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on EQIX shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Equinix from $1,075.00 to $1,065.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Equinix from $1,033.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Equinix from $950.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Equinix from $1,028.00 to $990.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Equinix from $1,085.00 to $1,065.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equinix has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $989.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 684 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.51, for a total transaction of $643,308.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,878,652.27. The trade was a 7.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Charles J. Meyers sold 3,562 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $929.04, for a total transaction of $3,309,240.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 15,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,412,197.52. The trade was a 18.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,054 shares of company stock valued at $17,466,950 over the last quarter. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Equinix Trading Up 1.7 %

Equinix stock opened at $855.33 on Thursday. Equinix, Inc. has a one year low of $684.14 and a one year high of $994.03. The stock has a market cap of $83.25 billion, a PE ratio of 100.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.74. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $906.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $908.67.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $7.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $5.17. Equinix had a net margin of 9.32% and a return on equity of 6.31%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a $4.69 dividend. This represents a $18.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. This is a boost from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.26. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.