Man Group plc Cuts Position in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Man Group plc lowered its stake in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 44.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 103,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 81,260 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc owned about 0.11% of Equinix worth $97,627,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Equinix during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,067,270,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Equinix by 65.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,483,781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,399,042,000 after purchasing an additional 586,034 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Equinix by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,804,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,701,188,000 after purchasing an additional 401,991 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Equinix in the 4th quarter worth $328,899,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Equinix during the 4th quarter worth $246,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 684 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.51, for a total value of $643,308.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,878,652.27. This trade represents a 7.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Kurt Pletcher sold 127 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $877.70, for a total value of $111,467.90. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,616,723.40. The trade was a 6.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 7,167 shares of company stock worth $6,658,536. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on EQIX. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Equinix to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Equinix from $970.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Equinix from $1,030.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Equinix from $950.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Equinix to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and six have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $1,004.89.

Equinix Stock Down 0.2%

EQIX stock opened at $868.79 on Wednesday. Equinix, Inc. has a 52 week low of $701.41 and a 52 week high of $994.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $823.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $893.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 101.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.97.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $9.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.01 by $0.66. Equinix had a return on equity of 6.31% and a net margin of 9.32%. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $8.86 EPS. Equinix’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $4.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $18.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. Equinix’s payout ratio is presently 195.01%.

About Equinix

Equinix (Nasdaq: EQIX) is the world's digital infrastructure company . Digital leaders harness Equinix's trusted platform to bring together and interconnect foundational infrastructure at software speed. Equinix enables organizations to access all the right places, partners and possibilities to scale with agility, speed the launch of digital services, deliver world-class experiences and multiply their value, while supporting their sustainability goals.