Equinix, Inc. $EQIX Stock Position Raised by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its holdings in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 752 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Equinix were worth $6,112,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Equinix during the 2nd quarter valued at about $11,930,074,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Equinix by 26,831.6% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,239,122 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,291,648,000 after acquiring an additional 1,234,521 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Equinix in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,181,260,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in Equinix in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,163,662,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of Equinix during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,118,930,000. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQIX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. HSBC dropped their price target on Equinix from $1,400.00 to $1,380.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $1,208.00 price objective on shares of Equinix in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on Equinix in a research note on Monday, September 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $1,261.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,270.00 target price (up from $1,240.00) on shares of Equinix in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,250.00 target price on shares of Equinix in a research note on Monday, November 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equinix currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,234.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equinix news, Director Christopher B. Paisley sold 125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,103.58, for a total transaction of $137,947.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,734 shares in the company, valued at $15,156,567.72. This represents a 0.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Kurt Pletcher sold 198 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,014.18, for a total value of $200,807.64. Following the transaction, the insider owned 3,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,934,004.22. This represents a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 968 shares of company stock valued at $1,007,885. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Equinix Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ EQIX opened at $1,072.77 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $1,018.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,018.62. Equinix, Inc. has a 12 month low of $720.62 and a 12 month high of $1,128.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.77, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.98.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $4.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.11 by $0.82. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.56 billion. Equinix had a net margin of 16.38% and a return on equity of 11.49%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.83 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equinix, Inc. will post 39.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinix Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $5.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 18th. This represents a $20.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 123.96%.

Equinix Company Profile

Equinix, Inc. is a global digital infrastructure company that operates data centers where businesses can house their computing and networking equipment. Its colocation services support organizations seeking secure, reliable facilities for their IT systems. The company also provides interconnection services that enable customers to connect with cloud providers, networks, business partners and one another. Its Equinix Fabric platform offers software-defined connectivity, while its xScale facilities are designed to serve large-scale cloud and technology companies.