Vestcor Inc Sells 1,212 Shares of Equinix, Inc. $EQIX

Vestcor Inc trimmed its holdings in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,212 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Equinix were worth $12,187,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Equinix during the second quarter valued at approximately $892,431,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Equinix by 25.8% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Equinix by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,129,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,443,758,000 after buying an additional 222,221 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in 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. Finally, ABN AMRO Bank N.V. purchased a new position in Equinix during the second quarter valued at $172,581,000. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Equinix Trading Down 1.7%

Equinix stock opened at $936.90 on Monday. Equinix, Inc. has a one year low of $701.41 and a one year high of $992.90. The business’s fifty day moving average is $852.09 and its 200 day moving average is $807.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.05 billion, a PE ratio of 68.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.32.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last issued its 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). The business had revenue of $2.42 billion during 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%.Equinix’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $7.92 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 EPS for the current year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $5.16 per share. This represents a $20.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. This is a positive change from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.69. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 25th. Equinix’s payout ratio is currently 150.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on EQIX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Equinix from $785.00 to $894.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays reissued a “positive” rating and set a $870.00 price objective on shares of Equinix in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Equinix in a research note on Thursday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,128.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equinix in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Equinix from $925.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,006.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jonathan Lin sold 888 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $801.78, for a total value of $711,980.64. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,390 shares in the company, valued at $7,528,714.20. This trade represents a 8.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Charles J. Meyers sold 2,716 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $965.15, for a total value of $2,621,347.40. Following the sale, the chairman owned 12,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,155,099.10. This trade represents a 17.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 13,602 shares of company stock valued at $11,369,645 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

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.