Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Has $2.67 Million Stake in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX - Free Report) by 45.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,828 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 881 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Equinix were worth $2,667,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EQIX. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Equinix in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in Equinix during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in Equinix during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its holdings in Equinix by 108.7% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 48 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Thompson Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Equinix during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 684 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the insider now owns 8,377 shares in the company, valued at $7,878,652.27. This trade represents a 7.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Keith D. Taylor sold 3,184 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $909.82, for a total transaction of $2,896,866.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 22,076 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,085,186.32. This represents a 12.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 in the last 90 days. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on EQIX. Barclays increased their price target on Equinix from $810.00 to $822.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Equinix to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Equinix from $936.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. 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 report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Equinix from $1,033.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Three 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $989.35.

Remove Ads

Equinix Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EQIX opened at $836.24 on Wednesday. Equinix, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $684.14 and a fifty-two week high of $994.03. The stock has a market cap of $81.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.81, a PEG 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 firm's 50-day simple moving average is $918.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $908.19.

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

Equinix Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend yield of 2.24%. This is a boost from Equinix's previous quarterly dividend of $4.26. 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.