Brandi Galvin Morandi Sells 630 Shares of Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) Stock

Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 630 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $961.19, for a total value of $605,549.70. Following the transaction, the insider owned 10,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,990,608.86. This represents a 5.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Brandi Galvin Morandi also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, January 16th, Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 1,333 shares of Equinix stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $804.25, for a total value of $1,072,065.25.

Equinix Stock Performance

Equinix stock traded down $1.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $969.90. The company had a trading volume of 494,928 shares, compared to its average volume of 655,121. The company has a market capitalization of $95.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.04. Equinix, Inc. has a 12-month low of $701.41 and a 12-month high of $992.90. The company’s fifty day moving average is $867.66 and its 200-day moving average is $812.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

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 the consensus estimate of $9.07 by ($0.16). Equinix had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The firm had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $7.92 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 EPS for the current year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $5.16 per share. This represents a $20.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. This is an increase from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.69. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio is currently 150.11%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equinix

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EQIX. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Equinix during the fourth quarter worth $984,355,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equinix by 408.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,186,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $929,312,000 after acquiring an additional 953,001 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equinix by 377,167.4% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 716,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $549,190,000 after purchasing an additional 716,618 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Equinix by 25.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,875,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,252,094,000 after purchasing an additional 588,967 shares during the period. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its position in Equinix by 23.3% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 2,609,011 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,998,978,000 after purchasing an additional 493,141 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Equinix from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays restated a “positive” rating and issued a $870.00 price objective on shares of Equinix in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Equinix in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,128.00 target price on the stock. HSBC set a $1,050.00 price target on shares of Equinix and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Equinix from $933.00 to $985.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Equinix presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,006.91.

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.