Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) Stock Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Analysts

Shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-three ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-seven have assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $1,226.97.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Equinix in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce began coverage on shares of Equinix in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,200.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $1,340.00 target price (up from $1,300.00) on shares of Equinix in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Equinix from $1,166.00 to $1,210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Equinix from $1,300.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th.

Insider Activity at Equinix

In other Equinix news, insider Kurt Pletcher sold 135 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,075.50, for a total transaction of $145,192.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 4,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,384,813.50. This represents a 3.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Christopher B. Paisley sold 125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,103.58, for a total value of $137,947.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 13,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,156,567.72. This trade represents a 0.90% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 770 shares of company stock valued at $807,077. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equinix

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EQIX. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Equinix in the second quarter valued at about $11,930,074,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Equinix by 1.4% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,980,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,941,377,000 after purchasing an additional 27,643 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Equinix by 26,831.6% during the second 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 worth $1,291,648,000 after purchasing an additional 1,234,521 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Equinix during the second quarter worth about $1,181,260,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in Equinix during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,163,662,000. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Equinix Trading Up 3.9%

NASDAQ:EQIX opened at $1,054.09 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $1,019.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $1,011.20. Equinix has a 52 week low of $720.62 and a 52 week high of $1,128.68. The company has a market capitalization of $104.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $4.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.11 by $0.82. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. Equinix had a net margin of 16.38% and a return on equity of 11.49%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $9.83 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Equinix will post 39.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 18th will be issued 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 2.0%. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio is currently 123.96%.

About Equinix

Equinix, Inc is a global digital infrastructure company that operates data centers where businesses, cloud providers, telecommunications carriers and other organizations can securely house and connect their information technology systems. Its International Business Exchange (IBX) data centers provide colocation services, allowing customers to place equipment in highly connected facilities without building and operating their own sites.

The company also provides interconnection and networking services, including Equinix Fabric, which enables customers to establish virtual connections among data centers, cloud platforms, networks and business partners.