Citigroup Inc. Reduces Position in Equinix, Inc. $EQIX

Citigroup Inc. lowered its position in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 33.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 112,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 56,602 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Equinix were worth $88,260,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equinix by 21.1% during the second 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. raised its position in Equinix by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 544,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $426,444,000 after buying an additional 7,409 shares during the last quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,805 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Equinix by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,875,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,252,094,000 after purchasing an additional 588,967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foresight Group Ltd Liability Partnership increased its position in Equinix by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Foresight Group Ltd Liability Partnership now owns 26,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,425,000 after purchasing an additional 2,378 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on EQIX shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $915.00 target price on Equinix in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equinix in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,075.00 target price on shares of Equinix in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays reissued a “positive” rating and set a $870.00 price target on shares of Equinix in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Equinix from $785.00 to $894.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Two 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,001.41.

Insider Transactions at Equinix

In other news, insider Michael Shane Paladin sold 327 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $804.36, for a total value of $263,025.72. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $765,750.72. The trade was a 25.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Kurt Pletcher sold 596 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $801.78, for a total transaction of $477,860.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,561,687.10. This represents a 15.72% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 14,353 shares of company stock worth $11,283,043 in the last quarter. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Equinix Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ EQIX opened at $928.11 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $91.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.32. Equinix, Inc. has a 1 year low of $701.41 and a 1 year high of $992.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $811.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $795.03.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $7.92 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be paid a $5.16 dividend. This represents a $20.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. 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 dividend payout ratio is 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.