Van ECK Associates Corp Purchases 2,107 Shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 10.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,107 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Equinix were worth $21,136,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Equinix by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,826,082 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,171,405,000 after acquiring an additional 81,941 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Equinix by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,350,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,079,591,000 after purchasing an additional 33,277 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Equinix by 0.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,894,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,681,256,000 after purchasing an additional 5,910 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Equinix by 17.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,338,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,188,180,000 after purchasing an additional 203,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Equinix by 5.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,134,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,006,724,000 after purchasing an additional 53,729 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equinix Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EQIX opened at $933.60 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $935.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $894.96. The firm has a market cap of $90.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.72. Equinix, Inc. has a 52 week low of $684.14 and a 52 week high of $994.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $7.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $5.17. Equinix had a return on equity of 8.34% and a net margin of 12.29%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Equinix, Inc. will post 31.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a $4.69 dividend. This represents a $18.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. This is a positive change from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.26. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio is currently 153.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equinix news, Chairman Charles J. Meyers sold 5,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $909.81, for a total value of $5,265,980.28. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 15,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,859,135.73. This represents a 27.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Christopher B. Paisley sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.00, for a total value of $89,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,854,454. This represents a 0.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,801 shares of company stock worth $15,530,564. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQIX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Equinix from $950.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Moffett Nathanson upgraded shares of Equinix from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Equinix from $995.00 to $1,080.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Equinix from $1,114.00 to $1,033.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $1,200.00 price target on shares of Equinix in a research note on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equinix has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $994.82.

Equinix Profile

Equinix (Nasdaq: EQIX) is the world's digital infrastructure company . Digital leaders harness Equinix's trusted platform to bring together and interconnect foundational infrastructure at software speed. Equinix enables organizations to access all the right places, partners and possibilities to scale with agility, speed the launch of digital services, deliver world-class experiences and multiply their value, while supporting their sustainability goals.