Congress Asset Management Co. Trims Position in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Congress Asset Management Co. trimmed its stake in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX - Free Report) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,230 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 277 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co.'s holdings in Equinix were worth $3,989,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Equinix by 50.0% during the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 39 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in Equinix by 50.0% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 39 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its holdings in Equinix by 108.7% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 48 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Equinix during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in Equinix during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,000. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Equinix from $935.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Equinix from $1,075.00 to $1,065.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Equinix from $995.00 to $1,080.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Equinix from $1,114.00 to $1,033.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $1,200.00 price objective on shares of Equinix in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $994.82.

Equinix Price Performance

EQIX stock traded down $20.57 during trading on Friday, hitting $919.68. 664,034 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 505,680. Equinix, Inc. has a 52 week low of $684.14 and a 52 week high of $994.03. 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 has a fifty day simple moving average of $931.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $901.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.72.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 9.32% and a return on equity of 6.31%. As a group, research analysts expect that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a dividend of $4.69 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $18.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. This is a positive change from Equinix's previous quarterly dividend of $4.26. Equinix's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 199.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equinix

In other news, insider Kurt Pletcher sold 222 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $962.20, for a total value of $213,608.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,015 shares in the company, valued at approximately $976,633. This trade represents a 17.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Raouf Abdel sold 1,331 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $903.71, for a total transaction of $1,202,838.01. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,579 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,945,508.09. This trade represents a 16.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,741 shares of company stock worth $21,988,532 over the last 90 days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.