Korea Investment CORP Decreases Position in Equinix, Inc. $EQIX

Korea Investment CORP decreased its position in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 48.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 44,129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 42,184 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Equinix were worth $34,564,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quent Capital LLC grew its stake in Equinix by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $233,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Equinix by 1.0% in the third quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 1,295 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,014,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Equinix by 2.7% in the third quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $388,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in shares of Equinix by 40.6% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 45 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Equinix by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $208,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on EQIX. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Equinix in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,128.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Equinix from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Equinix from $950.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Equinix from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Equinix from $785.00 to $894.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equinix currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,006.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equinix

In other news, EVP Raouf Abdel sold 927 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 7,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,882,659.86. This represents a 11.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan Lin sold 888 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $801.78, for a total transaction of $711,980.64. Following the transaction, the insider owned 9,390 shares in the company, valued at $7,528,714.20. The trade was a 8.64% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 13,602 shares of company stock worth $11,369,645. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Equinix Stock Performance

Shares of EQIX stock opened at $944.91 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.04. Equinix, Inc. has a one year low of $701.41 and a one year high of $992.90. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $855.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $808.90.

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

Equinix Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be paid a $5.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $20.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.69. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio is presently 150.11%.

Equinix 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.