Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) Rating Increased to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Equinix from $933.00 to $985.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Equinix from $950.00 to $1,010.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $915.00 price objective on Equinix in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Equinix from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Equinix from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Equinix currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,015.05.

Equinix Stock Down 0.0%

EQIX stock opened at $963.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $94.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $907.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $827.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.32. Equinix has a 12 month low of $701.41 and a 12 month high of $992.90.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $8.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.07 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. Equinix had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 14.65%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $7.92 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Equinix will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $5.16 per share. This represents a $20.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is a positive change from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.69. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 25th. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 150.11%.

Insider Activity

In other Equinix news, Chairman Charles J. Meyers sold 2,716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $965.15, for a total transaction of $2,621,347.40. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 12,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,155,099.10. The trade was a 17.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Raouf Abdel sold 927 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $801.78, for a total value of $743,250.06. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 7,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,882,659.86. This trade represents a 11.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 16,842 shares of company stock valued at $14,494,840 over the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equinix

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EQIX. Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its position in Equinix by 433.3% in the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 32 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Equinix by 209.1% during the 3rd quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 34 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Equinix during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Equinix by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 42 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equinix by 51.7% in the 4th quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 44 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.