Swiss National Bank Lowers Holdings in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Swiss National Bank decreased its stake in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX - Free Report) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 268,303 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 13,400 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.28% of Equinix worth $252,980,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EQIX. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Equinix by 0.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,894,101 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,681,256,000 after buying an additional 5,910 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Equinix by 6.2% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 4,813 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,272,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equinix in the third quarter worth $121,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Equinix by 63.0% in the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,487 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Equinix by 14.9% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 44,651 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $39,634,000 after purchasing an additional 5,786 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Equinix from $936.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $1,200.00 price target on shares of Equinix in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Equinix to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on 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. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Equinix from $950.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Three research 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 MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $989.35.

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Equinix Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EQIX opened at $854.99 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $917.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $907.82. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $83.22 billion, a PE ratio of 100.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.74.

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 announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $18.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. This is a boost from Equinix's previous quarterly dividend of $4.26. Equinix's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 219.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equinix news, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 1,370 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $909.51, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value of $643,308.84. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,377 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,878,652.27. This represents a 7.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 19,054 shares of company stock worth $17,466,950. 0.27% of the stock is 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.

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