Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 793 Shares of Equinix, Inc. $EQIX

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its stake in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 144,303 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 793 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Equinix were worth $110,559,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of EQIX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 valued at $10,410,575,000 after purchasing an additional 162,638 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Equinix by 3.7% in the second 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 during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Equinix by 25.8% in 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 stake in shares of Equinix by 3.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,969,498 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,542,595,000 after buying an additional 56,592 shares during the period. Finally, APG Asset Management US Inc. raised its holdings in Equinix by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 1,211,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $937,530,000 after buying an additional 5,109 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equinix Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ EQIX opened at $964.05 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $910.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $828.83. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $94.72 billion, a PE ratio of 70.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.04.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last announced 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). Equinix had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The company had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $7.92 EPS. Equinix’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 issued a dividend of $5.16 per share. This is a positive change from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.69. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $20.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 150.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,075.00 price target on shares of Equinix in a report on Thursday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Equinix from $950.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Equinix from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Guggenheim upped their price target on Equinix from $933.00 to $985.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Equinix in a report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,128.00 price objective for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equinix currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,015.05.

Insider Transactions at Equinix

In related news, Chairman Charles J. Meyers sold 2,716 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $965.15, for a total value of $2,621,347.40. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 12,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,155,099.10. This represents a 17.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 1,333 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $804.25, for a total value of $1,072,065.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,681,391.75. This trade represents a 12.25% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 16,842 shares of company stock worth $14,494,840. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.