Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) Shares Sold by Westpac Banking Corp

Westpac Banking Corp trimmed its holdings in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 13,797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,467 shares during the period. Equinix makes up about 0.9% of Westpac Banking Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Equinix were worth $13,009,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Equinix by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 366,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $345,110,000 after acquiring an additional 2,561 shares in the last quarter. Potomac Fund Management Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Equinix in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,156,000. Groupama Asset Managment raised its stake in shares of Equinix by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 40,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,119,000 after purchasing an additional 3,594 shares in the last quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Equinix by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 3,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,371,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Equinix by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,412,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,269,037,000 after buying an additional 62,005 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equinix Stock Performance

Shares of EQIX opened at $831.55 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.94 billion, a PE ratio of 97.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $889.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $907.72. Equinix, Inc. has a 52-week low of $684.14 and a 52-week high of $994.03.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $7.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $5.17. Equinix had a net margin of 9.32% and a return on equity of 6.31%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a $4.69 dividend. This is a positive change from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.26. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $18.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio is 219.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on EQIX. Cfra Research raised Equinix from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Equinix from $1,094.00 to $1,053.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 28th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Equinix from $822.00 to $834.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Equinix from $1,085.00 to $1,065.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Equinix from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $978.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $1,007.59.

Insider Activity at Equinix

In related news, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 1,370 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $909.51, for a total value of $1,246,028.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,329 shares in the company, valued at $3,937,268.79. The trade was a 24.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Raouf Abdel sold 1,331 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $903.71, for a total value of $1,202,838.01. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,579 shares in the company, valued at $5,945,508.09. This trade represents a 16.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,054 shares of company stock valued at $17,466,950 over the last 90 days. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Equinix

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.