Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $1,095.81 and last traded at $1,094.3750, with a volume of 13723 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $1,088.62.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on EQIX shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,075.00 target price on Equinix in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Equinix in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $1,173.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Equinix in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,128.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Equinix from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Equinix from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Five 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,056.35.

Equinix Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $107.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.32. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $982.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $857.25.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $7.92 EPS. Equinix’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Equinix, Inc. will post 37.72 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 given a dividend of $5.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $20.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. This is an increase from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.69. Equinix’s payout ratio is 150.11%.

Insider Activity

In other Equinix news, Chairman Charles J. Meyers sold 2,716 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $965.15, for a total transaction of $2,621,347.40. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 12,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,155,099.10. This trade represents a 17.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Raouf Abdel sold 584 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $965.69, for a total transaction of $563,962.96. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 7,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,501,479.92. This represents a 6.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 6,380 shares of company stock worth $6,179,022. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equinix

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in Equinix by 1.4% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 544,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $426,444,000 after purchasing an additional 7,409 shares during the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lifted its stake in Equinix by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 112,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $85,833,000 after purchasing an additional 4,241 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake 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 worth $2,252,094,000 after purchasing an additional 588,967 shares during the last quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Equinix by 5.1% in the third quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 36,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,908,000 after purchasing an additional 1,805 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foresight Group Ltd Liability Partnership lifted its stake in Equinix by 10.0% in the third quarter. Foresight Group Ltd Liability Partnership now owns 26,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,425,000 after purchasing an additional 2,378 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

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.