Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-nine brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eighteen have issued a buy recommendation and five have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $1,056.3478.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on EQIX shares. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,127.00 target price (up from $1,087.00) on shares of Equinix in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Equinix in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. HSBC set a $1,050.00 target price on Equinix and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Equinix from $950.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Equinix from $1,020.00 to $1,109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday.

Equinix Stock Performance

EQIX stock traded down $7.54 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $1,096.43. The company had a trading volume of 34,510 shares, compared to its average volume of 610,577. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.01. Equinix has a one year low of $710.52 and a one year high of $1,105.40. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $977.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $855.02.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $8.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.07 by ($0.16). The company 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 quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $7.92 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Equinix will post 37.72 EPS for the current year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $5.16 per share. This is an increase from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.69. This represents a $20.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 25th. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 150.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equinix

In related news, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 424 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,020.00, for a total transaction of $432,480.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 9,970 shares in the company, valued at $10,169,400. The trade was a 4.08% 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, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 1,086 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $966.20, for a total transaction of $1,049,293.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 19,574 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,912,398.80. This represents a 5.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 6,380 shares of company stock valued at $6,179,022. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equinix

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EQIX. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Equinix by 28.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its holdings in Equinix by 11.5% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 522 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $425,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Equinix by 21.8% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,487,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. acquired a new position in Equinix during the second quarter worth about $231,000. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Equinix by 2.8% during the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $854,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.