Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) Sets New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $1,075.00 to $1,250.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Equinix traded as high as $1,041.70 and last traded at $1,046.5450, with a volume of 49487 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $1,030.24.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Equinix in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,128.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Equinix in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Equinix from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Equinix in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded shares of Equinix from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $997.00 to $1,050.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,033.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Raouf Abdel sold 927 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $801.78, for a total value of $743,250.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 7,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,882,659.86. This trade represents a 11.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Charles J. Meyers sold 2,716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $965.15, for a total transaction of $2,621,347.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 12,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,155,099.10. This trade represents a 17.74% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 17,266 shares of company stock valued at $14,927,320 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EQIX. Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Equinix by 433.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 32 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Abound Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Equinix by 209.1% in the 3rd quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 34 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equinix in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Equinix by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 42 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Equinix by 51.7% in the 4th quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 44 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Equinix Trading Up 1.0%

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $947.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $842.73. The company has a market cap of $102.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.32.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $8.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.07 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Equinix had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The business’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $7.92 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $5.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $20.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. This is a boost from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.69. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio is 150.11%.

About Equinix

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.