Land & Buildings Investment Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Equinix, Inc. $EQIX

Land & Buildings Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 10.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 31,865 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,717 shares during the quarter. Equinix comprises about 4.6% of Land & Buildings Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Land & Buildings Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Equinix were worth $24,958,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EQIX. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Equinix in the second quarter valued at $892,431,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in Equinix by 408.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,186,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $929,312,000 after purchasing an additional 953,001 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Equinix by 25.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,875,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,252,094,000 after purchasing an additional 588,967 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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 period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in Equinix by 3.7% during the 2nd 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Equinix Stock Performance

Shares of EQIX opened at $984.46 on Tuesday. Equinix, Inc. has a 12-month low of $701.41 and a 12-month high of $992.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company has a market cap of $96.73 billion, a PE ratio of 71.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $876.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $815.44.

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 the consensus estimate of $9.07 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Equinix had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 14.65%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $7.92 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be issued a $5.16 dividend. This represents a $20.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.69. Equinix’s payout ratio is currently 150.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EQIX shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Equinix in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Equinix in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,075.00 target price on shares of Equinix in a report on Thursday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Equinix from $925.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $870.00 price target on shares of Equinix in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,006.91.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 630 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $961.19, for a total transaction of $605,549.70. Following the sale, the insider owned 10,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,990,608.86. This trade represents a 5.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Raouf Abdel sold 584 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $965.69, for a total transaction of $563,962.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 7,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,501,479.92. This trade represents a 6.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,842 shares of company stock worth $14,494,840. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

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.