First Trust Advisors LP Grows Stake in Equinix, Inc. $EQIX

First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 51.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 38,893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,157 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Equinix were worth $38,124,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new stake in Equinix during the 1st quarter valued at $12,959,000. ABN Amro Investment Solutions increased its position in Equinix by 1.6% during the first quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions now owns 27,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,595,000 after acquiring an additional 421 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Equinix by 14.4% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,988 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,692,000 after acquiring an additional 1,890 shares during the period. Andra AP fonden raised its stake in shares of Equinix by 232.7% in the first quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 8,375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,210,000 after acquiring an additional 5,858 shares during the period. Finally, Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equinix in the 1st quarter worth about $39,000. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on EQIX shares. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of Equinix from $1,173.00 to $1,186.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Equinix from $894.00 to $1,015.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,200.00 price objective on shares of Equinix in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $1,207.00 target price on shares of Equinix in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Equinix from $1,050.00 to $1,120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,153.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equinix news, EVP Raouf Abdel sold 2,040 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,083.47, for a total transaction of $2,210,278.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,206,116.16. This trade represents a 26.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Christopher B. Paisley sold 125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,060.29, for a total value of $132,536.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 17,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,615,511.53. The trade was a 0.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 11,115 shares of company stock worth $12,022,574 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Equinix Trading Down 3.5%

NASDAQ EQIX opened at $1,046.79 on Tuesday. Equinix, Inc. has a one year low of $720.62 and a one year high of $1,128.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18. The company has a market capitalization of $103.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,056.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $989.67.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $10.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.30 by $6.49. Equinix had a net margin of 15.07% and a return on equity of 10.03%. The firm had revenue of $2.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $9.67 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equinix has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.310-43.110 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Equinix, Inc. will post 38.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $5.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $20.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio is currently 142.84%.

Equinix Profile

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.