First Business Financial Services Inc. Has $2.42 Million Stock Position in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

First Business Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 5.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Equinix were worth $2,417,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equinix during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its position in Equinix by 127.8% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 41 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its stake in Equinix by 40.0% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 42 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. Pacific Center for Financial Services grew its position in shares of Equinix by 65.2% during the 4th quarter. Pacific Center for Financial Services now owns 38 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Equinix in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equinix Price Performance

Shares of EQIX stock opened at $760.20 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 1.65. Equinix, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $701.41 and a fifty-two week high of $994.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.02, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $854.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $867.00.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $9.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.01 by $0.66. Equinix had a net margin of 10.48% and a return on equity of 6.96%. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $8.86 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st were given a dividend of $4.69 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $18.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.47%. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 195.01%.

Insider Activity

In other Equinix news, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 2,949 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $884.91, for a total value of $2,609,599.59. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,615 shares in the company, valued at $8,508,409.65. The trade was a 23.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Christopher B. Paisley sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $869.41, for a total value of $86,941.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 17,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,274,664.29. This trade represents a 0.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,176 shares of company stock worth $2,808,008 over the last quarter. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on EQIX. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $1,200.00 price objective on shares of Equinix in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Equinix from $1,069.00 to $900.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. BNP Paribas raised Equinix to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Equinix from $1,050.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Equinix from $1,065.00 to $925.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Equinix has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $957.05.

Equinix Profile

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.