Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Stake in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX - Free Report) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,664,699 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 88,654 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 13.13% of Equinix worth $11,941,418,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of EQIX. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equinix by 0.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,894,101 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,681,256,000 after purchasing an additional 5,910 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Equinix in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $224,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Equinix by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 13,168 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $11,688,000 after acquiring an additional 531 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equinix by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,691 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,164,000 after acquiring an additional 774 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equinix by 76.5% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 90 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity at Equinix

In related news, insider Kurt Pletcher sold 341 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $903.72, for a total transaction of $308,168.52. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,430 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,292,319.60. This trade represents a 19.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 1,370 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $909.51, for a total value of $1,246,028.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,329 shares in the company, valued at $3,937,268.79. This trade represents a 24.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,054 shares of company stock valued at $17,466,950 over the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Equinix from $936.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Equinix from $1,033.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $1,200.00 price target on shares of Equinix in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Equinix to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $990.06.

Equinix Stock Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ EQIX traded down $11.22 on Tuesday, reaching $841.22. 435,547 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 519,944. Equinix, Inc. has a 12 month low of $684.14 and a 12 month 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $902.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $909.60. The company has a market cap of $81.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 98.39, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.74.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $7.92 earnings per share 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, research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $4.69 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This is an increase from Equinix's previous quarterly dividend of $4.26. This represents a $18.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Equinix's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 219.42%.

Equinix 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.