Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 120,468 Shares of Equinix, Inc. $EQIX

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its stake in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,223,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 120,468 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 1.25% of Equinix worth $957,919,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Equinix in the second quarter valued at $892,431,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Equinix by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,875,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,252,094,000 after purchasing an additional 588,967 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equinix by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,129,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,443,758,000 after purchasing an additional 222,221 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Equinix by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,249,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,971,512,000 after purchasing an additional 220,981 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ABN AMRO Bank N.V. acquired a new stake in shares of Equinix during the 2nd quarter worth about $172,581,000. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Equinix

In other Equinix news, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 1,333 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $804.25, for a total transaction of $1,072,065.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 9,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,681,391.75. The trade was a 12.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Raouf Abdel sold 927 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $801.78, for a total value of $743,250.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 7,337 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,882,659.86. This trade represents a 11.22% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 10,886 shares of company stock worth $8,748,298 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Equinix Stock Up 0.6%

NASDAQ:EQIX opened at $972.01 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $95.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $840.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $803.89. Equinix, Inc. has a 52-week low of $701.41 and a 52-week high of $992.90.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $8.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.07 by ($0.16). Equinix had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 14.65%.The firm had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $7.92 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate 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 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be paid a $5.16 dividend. This is a boost from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $20.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Equinix’s payout ratio is 150.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on EQIX. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Equinix from $785.00 to $894.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Equinix from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Equinix from $950.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $870.00 price objective on shares of Equinix in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Equinix in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equinix presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,001.41.

Equinix Company Profile

Equinix, Inc is a global provider of digital infrastructure and interconnection services, specializing in carrier-neutral data centers and colocation. The company operates a platform that enables enterprises, cloud and network service providers, and content companies to colocate IT infrastructure, interconnect directly with partners and providers, and access cloud on-ramps and network services in a secure, low-latency environment.

Equinix’s offerings include traditional colocation space and power, cross-connects and meet-me rooms, and a suite of connectivity and on-demand services designed for hybrid multicloud architectures.