Equinix, Inc. $EQIX Holdings Increased by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 31.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 313,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 75,135 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Equinix were worth $317,219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Equinix during the 2nd quarter worth $11,930,074,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Equinix by 1.4% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,980,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,941,377,000 after buying an additional 27,643 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equinix by 26,831.6% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,239,122 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,291,648,000 after buying an additional 1,234,521 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Equinix in the second quarter worth about $1,181,260,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Equinix in the second quarter worth about $1,163,662,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on EQIX shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Equinix from $1,250.00 to $1,265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Equinix from $1,015.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $1,208.00 target price on shares of Equinix in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Equinix from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce started coverage on Equinix in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,200.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Equinix presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,234.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equinix news, insider Kurt Pletcher sold 135 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,075.50, for a total transaction of $145,192.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,384,813.50. The trade was a 3.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Christopher Paisley sold 125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,103.58, for a total transaction of $137,947.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,734 shares in the company, valued at $15,156,567.72. The trade was a 0.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 770 shares of company stock valued at $807,077 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Equinix Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of EQIX opened at $1,012.71 on Friday. Equinix, Inc. has a 52-week low of $720.62 and a 52-week high of $1,128.68. The company has a market capitalization of $99.92 billion, a PE ratio of 60.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,016.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,013.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $4.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.11 by $0.82. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. Equinix had a return on equity of 11.49% and a net margin of 16.38%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.83 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Equinix, Inc. will post 39.01 EPS for the current year.

Equinix Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $5.16 per share. This represents a $20.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 18th. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 123.96%.

About Equinix