HSBC Upgrades Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) to Buy

HSBC upgraded shares of Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $1,000.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $865.00.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the company. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Equinix from $915.00 to $935.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Equinix to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Equinix from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Equinix from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $825.00 to $875.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Cfra reissued a hold rating on shares of Equinix in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $903.80.

Equinix Stock Performance

Shares of Equinix stock opened at $870.01 on Friday. Equinix has a 12 month low of $677.80 and a 12 month high of $914.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $82.57 billion, a PE ratio of 87.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.71. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $838.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $792.58.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $3.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.88 by ($4.72). The firm had revenue of $2.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Equinix had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 12.24%. Equinix’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $8.04 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equinix will post 31.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $4.26 per share. This represents a $17.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Equinix’s payout ratio is 170.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $850.00, for a total transaction of $734,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,094 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,729,900. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $850.00, for a total transaction of $734,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,094 shares in the company, valued at $7,729,900. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Simon Miller sold 569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $820.91, for a total transaction of $467,097.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,554 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,559,334.14. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 10,043 shares of company stock worth $8,282,119. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equinix

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Equinix during the first quarter worth approximately $294,526,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Equinix by 14.5% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,888,191 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,428,606,000 after purchasing an additional 238,883 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Equinix by 1.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,503,989 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,319,917,000 after buying an additional 238,815 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new position in Equinix in the 1st quarter valued at $187,089,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Equinix during the 1st quarter valued at $145,308,000. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.