Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) Receives $1,001.41 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-seven brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty have given a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $1,001.4091.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Equinix from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,075.00 price objective on shares of Equinix in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Equinix in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equinix in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Equinix from $925.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th.

Equinix Trading Up 2.8%

EQIX opened at $974.26 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $832.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $800.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.32. Equinix has a 12 month low of $701.41 and a 12 month high of $992.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.86, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.06.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $8.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.07 by ($0.16). Equinix had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The company had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $7.92 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Equinix will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $5.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.69. This represents a $20.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 150.11%.

Insider Transactions at Equinix

In other news, CFO Keith D. Taylor sold 2,051 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $804.17, for a total transaction of $1,649,352.67. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 26,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,208,375.41. The trade was a 7.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Raouf Abdel sold 927 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $801.78, for a total transaction of $743,250.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 7,337 shares in the company, valued at $5,882,659.86. This trade represents a 11.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 14,353 shares of company stock valued at $11,283,043 over the last three months. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equinix

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Equinix in the 4th quarter valued at about $984,355,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in Equinix by 408.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,186,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $929,312,000 after buying an additional 953,001 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Equinix by 377,167.4% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 716,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $549,190,000 after buying an additional 716,618 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Equinix by 25.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,875,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,252,094,000 after buying an additional 588,967 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equinix by 23.3% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 2,609,011 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,998,978,000 after acquiring an additional 493,141 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Equinix Company Profile

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.