Westpac Banking Corp Acquires 997 Shares of Equinix, Inc. $EQIX

Westpac Banking Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 7.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 997 shares during the quarter. Equinix comprises about 0.7% of Westpac Banking Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Equinix were worth $10,677,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equinix by 21.1% in the 2nd quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $305,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Equinix by 1.4% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 544,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $426,444,000 after buying an additional 7,409 shares during the period. Chilton Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equinix by 5.1% in the third quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 36,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,908,000 after acquiring an additional 1,805 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings 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 valued at $2,252,094,000 after acquiring an additional 588,967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foresight Group Ltd Liability Partnership lifted its stake in Equinix by 10.0% in the third quarter. Foresight Group Ltd Liability Partnership now owns 26,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,425,000 after acquiring an additional 2,378 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on EQIX. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Equinix from $973.00 to $1,087.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Equinix from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,075.00 price objective on shares of Equinix in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group upped their target price on Equinix from $950.00 to $1,010.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $915.00 price target on Equinix in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,001.41.

Insider Transactions at Equinix

In other Equinix news, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 1,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $804.25, for a total value of $1,072,065.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Charles J. Meyers sold 2,094 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $804.14, for a total transaction of $1,683,869.16. Following the sale, the chairman owned 13,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,657,267.42. The trade was a 13.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 14,353 shares of company stock worth $11,283,043 over the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Equinix Price Performance

NASDAQ EQIX opened at $960.52 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $823.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $798.58. The firm has a market capitalization 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. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Equinix, Inc. has a 12-month low of $701.41 and a 12-month high of $992.90.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last posted 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 business had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $7.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

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