Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) Sets New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $1,016.39 and last traded at $1,016.08, with a volume of 301432 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $1,000.37.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $915.00 price objective on shares of Equinix in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Equinix from $785.00 to $894.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Equinix from $933.00 to $985.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, HSBC set a $1,050.00 target price on shares of Equinix and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equinix presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,019.27.

Equinix Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $99.99 billion, a PE ratio of 74.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $939.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $839.14.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $8.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.07 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. Equinix had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 14.65%.Equinix’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $7.92 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $5.16 per share. This is an increase from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.69. This represents a $20.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 25th. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio is presently 150.11%.

Insider Activity at Equinix

In related news, CFO Keith D. Taylor sold 2,051 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $804.17, for a total transaction of $1,649,352.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 26,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,208,375.41. The trade was a 7.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 1,333 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $804.25, for a total transaction of $1,072,065.25. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,681,391.75. This represents a 12.25% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 16,842 shares of company stock valued at $14,494,840 in the last quarter. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equinix

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EQIX. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Equinix during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $984,355,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in Equinix by 408.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,186,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $929,312,000 after acquiring an additional 953,001 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Equinix by 377,167.4% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 716,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $549,190,000 after acquiring an additional 716,618 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Equinix by 25.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 588,967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. grew 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 valued at $1,998,978,000 after acquiring an additional 493,141 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

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.