Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $993.88 and last traded at $990.4710, with a volume of 94752 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $980.24.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on EQIX shares. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equinix in a report on Thursday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Equinix from $950.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Equinix in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Equinix in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,016.86.

Equinix Trading Up 1.4%

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $914.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $830.18. The company has a market cap of $97.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.04. 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 (NASDAQ:EQIX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $8.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.07 by ($0.16). Equinix had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 14.65%.The company had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $7.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Equinix

In other news, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 630 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $961.19, for a total value of $605,549.70. Following the transaction, the insider owned 10,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,990,608.86. This represents a 5.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jonathan Lin sold 635 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $965.71, for a total transaction of $613,225.85. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 10,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,418,079.48. This trade represents a 5.56% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 16,842 shares of company stock worth $14,494,840 in the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equinix

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equinix by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,398,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,265,706,000 after purchasing an additional 107,227 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Equinix by 3.7% during the second 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 during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Equinix by 25.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,875,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,252,094,000 after buying an additional 588,967 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its holdings in Equinix by 23.3% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 2,609,011 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,998,978,000 after buying an additional 493,141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Equinix by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,567,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,959,731,000 after buying an additional 25,383 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.