KBC Group NV Sells 67,712 Shares of Equinix, Inc. $EQIX

KBC Group NV lowered its position in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 53.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 59,002 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 67,712 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Equinix were worth $45,205,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Equinix by 1.4% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 544,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $426,444,000 after acquiring an additional 7,409 shares in the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Equinix by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 112,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $85,833,000 after purchasing an additional 4,241 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Equinix by 25.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,875,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,252,094,000 after purchasing an additional 588,967 shares during the last quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Equinix by 5.1% in the third quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 36,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,908,000 after purchasing an additional 1,805 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foresight Group Ltd Liability Partnership boosted its holdings in Equinix by 10.0% in the third quarter. Foresight Group Ltd Liability Partnership now owns 26,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,425,000 after purchasing an additional 2,378 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Equinix in a report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,128.00 target price on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Equinix from $1,020.00 to $1,109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Equinix from $1,070.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Equinix in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Equinix from $933.00 to $985.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,046.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equinix

In other news, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 630 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $961.19, for a total transaction of $605,549.70. Following the transaction, the insider owned 10,394 shares in the company, valued at $9,990,608.86. This trade represents a 5.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan Lin sold 635 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $965.71, for a total transaction of $613,225.85. Following the transaction, the insider owned 10,788 shares in the company, valued at $10,418,079.48. This represents a 5.56% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 6,380 shares of company stock worth $6,179,022. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Equinix Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of Equinix stock opened at $1,070.90 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $967.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $849.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.61 billion, a PE ratio of 77.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.01. Equinix, Inc. has a 1-year low of $710.52 and a 1-year high of $1,072.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.32.

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

Equinix Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. This is a boost from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.69. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio is 150.11%.

Equinix Company Profile

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.