Scotiabank Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) Stock

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX - Free Report) had its target price hoisted by Scotiabank from $1,033.00 to $1,040.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector outperform rating on the financial services provider's stock.

EQIX has been the subject of a number of other reports. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Equinix from $950.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Equinix from $1,085.00 to $1,065.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Equinix from $936.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Equinix to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson raised shares of Equinix from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $995.24.

Equinix Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ EQIX traded up $5.96 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $910.58. 547,203 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 540,630. Equinix has a twelve month low of $684.14 and a twelve month high of $994.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 106.50, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $927.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $906.25.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $7.92 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, equities analysts expect that Equinix will post 33.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a dividend of $4.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. This is a positive change from Equinix's previous quarterly dividend of $4.26. This represents a $18.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. Equinix's payout ratio is presently 219.42%.

Insider Activity at Equinix

In other Equinix news, EVP Raouf Abdel sold 1,331 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $903.71, for a total value of $1,202,838.01. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,579 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,945,508.09. This represents a 16.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kurt Pletcher sold 222 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $962.20, for a total transaction of $213,608.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,015 shares of the company's stock, valued at $976,633. This trade represents a 17.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 22,241 shares of company stock worth $20,531,762. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equinix in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Equinix in the 4th quarter valued at about $205,641,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas grew its position in shares of Equinix by 55.4% during the 4th quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 77,370 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $72,951,000 after purchasing an additional 27,570 shares in the last quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV increased its holdings in shares of Equinix by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 4,270 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,026,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Finally, Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equinix in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $254,000. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

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.