SG Americas Securities LLC Buys 716,618 Shares of Equinix, Inc. $EQIX

SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 377,167.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 716,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 716,618 shares during the quarter. Equinix makes up approximately 0.7% of SG Americas Securities LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. SG Americas Securities LLC owned 0.73% of Equinix worth $549,190,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Equinix by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted 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 valued at $425,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted 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 valued at $2,487,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Equinix in the second quarter valued at about $231,000. Finally, Journey Strategic Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Equinix by 17.1% in the second quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 1,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $804.25, for a total transaction of $1,072,065.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,681,391.75. This trade represents a 12.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Charles J. Meyers sold 2,716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $965.15, for a total transaction of $2,621,347.40. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 12,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,155,099.10. This represents a 17.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 16,842 shares of company stock worth $14,494,840. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on EQIX shares. Guggenheim increased their target price on Equinix from $933.00 to $985.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equinix in a report on Thursday, February 12th. HSBC set a $1,050.00 price objective on Equinix and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Equinix from $785.00 to $894.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Equinix from $950.00 to $1,010.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,013.43.

Equinix Price Performance

Shares of EQIX stock opened at $966.96 on Tuesday. Equinix, Inc. has a 12 month low of $701.41 and a 12 month high of $992.90. The company has a market capitalization of $95.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $894.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $822.32. 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $2.42 billion for 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 for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $7.92 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 EPS for the current year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th were issued a $5.16 dividend. This is a boost from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $20.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Equinix’s payout ratio is presently 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.