Smartleaf Asset Management LLC Acquires 461 Shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX - Free Report) by 55.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,294 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 461 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC's holdings in Equinix were worth $1,211,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Equinix by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 20,309 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $18,099,000 after buying an additional 1,716 shares during the last quarter. Brookfield Corp ON grew its stake in shares of Equinix by 67.3% during the 3rd quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 80,760 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $71,685,000 after acquiring an additional 32,481 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equinix by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,504 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,361,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Thematics Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Equinix by 17.7% in the third quarter. Thematics Asset Management now owns 39,951 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $35,462,000 after purchasing an additional 6,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Equinix by 46.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 294,696 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $278,712,000 after purchasing an additional 92,975 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Equinix from $950.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Equinix from $935.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Equinix from $936.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Equinix from $1,033.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $1,200.00 target price on shares of Equinix in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equinix has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $995.24.

Equinix Stock Performance

Shares of Equinix stock traded up $5.96 on Monday, hitting $910.58. The stock had a trading volume of 547,203 shares, compared to its average volume of 540,630. The stock has a market cap of $88.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 106.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Equinix, Inc. has a twelve month low of $684.14 and a twelve month high of $994.03. The business's 50 day moving average is $928.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $905.68.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $7.92 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Analysts forecast that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 EPS for the current year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 2,965 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $961.62, for a total value of $2,851,203.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,069 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,951,211.78. This trade represents a 49.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Christopher B. Paisley sold 125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $912.21, for a total transaction of $114,026.25. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,669 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,117,838.49. This represents a 0.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 22,241 shares of company stock worth $20,531,762 in the last quarter. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.