Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $862.50.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on EQIX shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Equinix from $910.00 to $925.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Equinix from $875.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Wolfe Research upgraded Equinix from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Barclays lowered their target price on Equinix from $818.00 to $669.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $960.00 target price on shares of Equinix in a report on Wednesday, March 13th.

Equinix Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:EQIX opened at $739.85 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $835.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $801.33. The stock has a market cap of $70.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58. Equinix has a 1 year low of $672.88 and a 1 year high of $914.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13.

Equinix Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $4.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $17.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio is presently 165.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Keith D. Taylor sold 1,164 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $832.98, for a total value of $969,588.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,187 shares in the company, valued at $19,314,307.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Scott Crenshaw sold 460 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $832.97, for a total transaction of $383,166.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,034,548.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Keith D. Taylor sold 1,164 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $832.98, for a total value of $969,588.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,187 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,314,307.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 4,585 shares of company stock worth $3,818,268. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equinix

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQIX. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Equinix during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,574,132,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Equinix by 44.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,398,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,015,610,000 after buying an additional 431,435 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Equinix by 20.8% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,339,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,078,777,000 after buying an additional 230,300 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Equinix by 26.5% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 854,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $559,756,000 after buying an additional 179,023 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its position in Equinix by 87.4% in the first quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 308,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $255,114,000 after buying an additional 144,093 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Equinix Company 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.