Equinix, Inc. $EQIX Shares Purchased by Westpac Banking Corp

Westpac Banking Corp grew its stake in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 997 shares during the quarter. Equinix accounts for about 0.7% of Westpac Banking Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Equinix were worth $10,677,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Equinix by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,291,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,410,575,000 after purchasing an additional 162,638 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Equinix by 3.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,249,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,971,512,000 after buying an additional 220,981 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Equinix by 25.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,875,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,252,094,000 after acquiring an additional 588,967 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equinix by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,969,498 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,542,595,000 after acquiring an additional 56,592 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Equinix during the 2nd quarter valued at about $892,431,000. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Equinix

In related news, Chairman Charles J. Meyers sold 2,094 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $804.14, for a total value of $1,683,869.16. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 13,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,657,267.42. This represents a 13.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 1,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $804.25, for a total value of $1,072,065.25. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 9,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,681,391.75. This trade represents a 12.25% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 14,353 shares of company stock valued at $11,283,043 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on EQIX shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,075.00 price objective on Equinix in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Equinix from $973.00 to $1,087.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Equinix in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Equinix from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Equinix from $933.00 to $985.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Two research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equinix presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,001.41.

Equinix Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of Equinix stock opened at $960.52 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $823.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $798.58. The stock has a market cap of $94.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.06. Equinix, Inc. has a 1-year low of $701.41 and a 1-year high of $992.90.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $7.92 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $5.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 25th. This is an increase from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.69. This represents a $20.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 136.44%.

About Equinix

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.