Westpac Banking Corp Decreases Position in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Westpac Banking Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 4.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,122 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 675 shares during the period. Equinix makes up about 0.8% of Westpac Banking Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Equinix were worth $10,699,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EQIX. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equinix by 82,340.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 890,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $725,957,000 after purchasing an additional 889,282 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Equinix in the 1st quarter worth $662,663,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Equinix by 65.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,483,781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,399,042,000 after acquiring an additional 586,034 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Equinix by 22.5% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,590,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,296,871,000 after acquiring an additional 291,753 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in Equinix by 169.7% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 394,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $321,427,000 after acquiring an additional 248,075 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Equinix Trading Up 0.1%

EQIX stock opened at $776.75 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Equinix, Inc. has a 12-month low of $701.41 and a 12-month high of $994.03. The stock has a market cap of $76.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.08, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s 50-day moving average is $818.70 and its 200 day moving average is $846.57.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $9.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $6.42. Equinix had a return on equity of 7.22% and a net margin of 11.11%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.22 EPS. Equinix’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be issued a $4.69 dividend. This represents a $18.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. Equinix’s payout ratio is presently 183.74%.

Insider Activity

In other Equinix news, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 2,949 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $8,508,409.65. This trade represents a 23.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Christopher B. Paisley sold 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $869.41, for a total transaction of $86,941.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 17,569 shares in the company, valued at $15,274,664.29. This trade represents a 0.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on EQIX. BMO Capital Markets lowered Equinix from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $1,045.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Equinix from $1,069.00 to $900.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Equinix in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. New Street Research upgraded Equinix to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Equinix from $1,050.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $959.86.

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.