Equinix, Inc. $EQIX Stake Increased by Rakuten Investment Management Inc.

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 9.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 17,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,576 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Equinix were worth $17,977,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EQIX. AIA Group Ltd purchased a new stake in Equinix in the third quarter valued at $8,497,000. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equinix by 5,383.3% in the 3rd quarter. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Signature Equity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equinix by 193.3% during the 3rd quarter. Signature Equity Partners LLC now owns 44 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equinix by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. now owns 28,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,365,000 after purchasing an additional 980 shares during the period. Finally, Columbia Bank increased its position in shares of Equinix by 31.1% during the 3rd quarter. Columbia Bank now owns 287 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Equinix Stock Up 3.9%

Equinix stock opened at $1,054.09 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $104.01 billion, a PE ratio of 23.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $1,019.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,011.20. Equinix, Inc. has a 1-year low of $720.62 and a 1-year high of $1,128.68.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $4.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.11 by $0.82. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. Equinix had a net margin of 16.38% and a return on equity of 11.49%. Equinix’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $9.83 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Equinix, Inc. will post 39.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 16th. Shareholders 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, November 18th. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 123.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on EQIX. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $1,340.00 price target (up from $1,300.00) on shares of Equinix in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce started coverage on shares of Equinix in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,200.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Equinix in a research report on Friday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,250.00 price target on shares of Equinix in a research note on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Equinix from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equinix currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,226.97.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equinix news, insider Michael Paladin sold 307 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,035.01, for a total value of $317,748.07. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 2,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,535,774.50. The trade was a 11.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kurt Pletcher sold 135 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,075.50, for a total transaction of $145,192.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 4,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,384,813.50. This trade represents a 3.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 770 shares of company stock valued at $807,077. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Equinix Profile

Equinix, Inc is a global digital infrastructure company that operates data centers where businesses, cloud providers, telecommunications carriers and other organizations can securely house and connect their information technology systems. Its International Business Exchange (IBX) data centers provide colocation services, allowing customers to place equipment in highly connected facilities without building and operating their own sites.

The company also provides interconnection and networking services, including Equinix Fabric, which enables customers to establish virtual connections among data centers, cloud platforms, networks and business partners.