BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC Grows Position in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC increased its position in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 13.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 236 shares during the quarter. BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC’s holdings in Equinix were worth $1,913,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Equinix by 61.6% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 8,427 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,946,000 after acquiring an additional 3,212 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Equinix by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 628,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $592,191,000 after purchasing an additional 2,560 shares during the period. National Pension Service grew its holdings in Equinix by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 243,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $229,263,000 after purchasing an additional 3,164 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Equinix by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,361,000 after buying an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Equinix by 46.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 294,696 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $278,712,000 after buying an additional 92,975 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Christopher B. Paisley sold 125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $912.21, for a total value of $114,026.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,117,838.49. This trade represents a 0.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Charles J. Meyers sold 5,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $909.81, for a total transaction of $5,265,980.28. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 15,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,859,135.73. The trade was a 27.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,054 shares of company stock valued at $17,466,950. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Equinix from $822.00 to $834.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Equinix from $1,075.00 to $1,065.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Scotiabank upped 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. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Equinix from $1,085.00 to $1,065.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised Equinix to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $1,007.59.

Equinix Price Performance

Shares of EQIX stock opened at $776.83 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $75.61 billion, a PE ratio of 90.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $863.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $900.92. Equinix, Inc. has a 12 month low of $684.14 and a 12 month high of $994.03.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $7.92 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%. Analysts predict that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a $4.69 dividend. This is a positive change from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.26. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $18.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. Equinix’s payout ratio is presently 219.42%.

Equinix Company 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.