Czech National Bank Grows Position in Equinix, Inc. $EQIX

Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,034 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Equinix were worth $19,836,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Equinix in the second quarter valued at about $892,431,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of Equinix by 408.1% during the third 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 valued at $929,312,000 after purchasing an additional 953,001 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Equinix by 377,167.4% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 716,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $549,190,000 after purchasing an additional 716,618 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 588,967 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in Equinix by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,249,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,971,512,000 after purchasing an additional 220,981 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Equinix from $933.00 to $985.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays boosted their target price on Equinix from $870.00 to $1,020.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Equinix in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $915.00 price target on Equinix in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Equinix in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Equinix currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,015.05.

Equinix Stock Down 0.3%

EQIX opened at $963.52 on Friday. Equinix, Inc. has a twelve month low of $701.41 and a twelve month high of $992.90. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $904.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $825.62. The stock has a market cap of $94.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.07, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.04. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $8.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.07 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. Equinix had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 14.65%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $7.92 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th were given a $5.16 dividend. This is an increase from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.69. This represents a $20.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 25th. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 150.11%.

Insider Transactions at Equinix

In other news, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 630 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $961.19, for a total transaction of $605,549.70. Following the transaction, the insider owned 10,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,990,608.86. This represents a 5.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Raouf Abdel sold 584 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $965.69, for a total value of $563,962.96. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 7,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,501,479.92. The trade was a 6.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 16,842 shares of company stock valued at $14,494,840. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Equinix 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.