Equinix, Inc. $EQIX Shares Sold by Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. reduced its position in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,046 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 711 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Equinix were worth $1,603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Equinix by 1.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,291,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,410,575,000 after acquiring an additional 162,638 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Equinix by 3.7% during 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 during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Equinix by 25.8% during 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 buying an additional 588,967 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Equinix by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,969,498 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,542,595,000 after acquiring an additional 56,592 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Equinix in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $892,431,000. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equinix Trading Up 0.7%

NASDAQ:EQIX opened at $951.90 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $819.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $797.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.06. Equinix, Inc. has a 1-year low of $701.41 and a 1-year high of $992.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $8.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.07 by ($0.16). Equinix had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The firm had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $7.92 earnings per share. Equinix’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $5.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $20.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. This is a positive change from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.69. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 136.44%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Raouf Abdel sold 927 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $801.78, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 11.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 2,894 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $731.09, for a total value of $2,115,774.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,040,658.94. The trade was a 18.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,353 shares of company stock worth $11,283,043. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on EQIX shares. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Equinix in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Equinix from $950.00 to $1,010.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Equinix from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,075.00 price target on shares of Equinix in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Equinix in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Two 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.