Stifel Financial Corp Boosts Stake in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 153,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,222 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp owned approximately 0.16% of Equinix worth $145,015,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Equinix in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Equinix in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equinix in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Equinix in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Key Financial Inc grew its holdings in Equinix by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 60 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Equinix

In related news, Director Christopher B. Paisley sold 125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $912.21, for a total transaction of $114,026.25. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,669 shares in the company, valued at $16,117,838.49. This represents a 0.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Keith D. Taylor sold 2,454 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $929.34, for a total transaction of $2,280,600.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,677,754.68. This trade represents a 9.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,040 shares of company stock worth $6,547,068 in the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Equinix Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EQIX opened at $773.20 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $844.53 and its 200 day moving average is $896.95. The stock has a market cap of $75.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.95. Equinix, Inc. has a 1-year low of $684.14 and a 1-year high of $994.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $7.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a $4.69 dividend. This represents a $18.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This is a positive change from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.26. Equinix’s payout ratio is 219.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EQIX. Scotiabank increased their price target on Equinix from $1,033.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Equinix from $1,028.00 to $990.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Equinix from $1,020.00 to $970.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Equinix from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Equinix from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $978.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,005.50.

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.