Wall Street Zen Upgrades Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) to Hold

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on EQIX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Equinix from $950.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $1,075.00 price target on shares of Equinix in a report on Friday, February 13th. HSBC set a $1,050.00 price objective on Equinix and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Equinix from $925.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Equinix from $785.00 to $894.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Equinix currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,015.05.

Equinix Stock Performance

Shares of EQIX opened at $963.00 on Friday. Equinix has a 52-week low of $701.41 and a 52-week high of $992.90. The stock has a market cap of $94.61 billion, a PE ratio of 70.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $907.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $827.66. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $8.91 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. Equinix had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 9.60%. Equinix’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $7.92 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Equinix will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jonathan Lin sold 635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $965.71, for a total value of $613,225.85. Following the transaction, the insider owned 10,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,418,079.48. This represents a 5.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Charles J. Meyers sold 305 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $961.19, for a total value of $293,162.95. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 12,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,105,226.86. This represents a 2.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 16,842 shares of company stock valued at $14,494,840. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equinix

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equinix by 0.8% during 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 during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Equinix by 3.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 220,981 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Equinix by 25.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 588,967 shares during the period. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its stake in Equinix by 23.3% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 2,609,011 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,998,978,000 after purchasing an additional 493,141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Equinix by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,567,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,959,731,000 after purchasing an additional 25,383 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.