Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,174,962 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,791 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Equinix were worth $1,107,860,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Equinix by 302.7% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,082,455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $960,820,000 after buying an additional 813,666 shares in the last quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Equinix by 202.3% in the third quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC now owns 514,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $456,441,000 after buying an additional 344,114 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Equinix in the fourth quarter valued at about $246,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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 valued at $1,188,180,000 after buying an additional 203,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc increased its holdings in Equinix by 49.2% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 464,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $437,563,000 after buying an additional 153,215 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Kurt Pletcher sold 341 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $903.72, for a total value of $308,168.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,292,319.60. The trade was a 19.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Raouf Abdel sold 1,331 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $903.71, for a total transaction of $1,202,838.01. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,945,508.09. The trade was a 16.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,054 shares of company stock valued at $17,466,950 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Equinix Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of EQIX opened at $910.58 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $927.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $906.25. Equinix, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $684.14 and a fifty-two week high of $994.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market cap of $88.63 billion, a PE ratio of 106.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.72.

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 net margin of 9.32% and a return on equity of 6.31%. Analysts forecast that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a dividend of $4.69 per share. This is an increase from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.26. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $18.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. Equinix’s payout ratio is 219.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Equinix from $1,085.00 to $1,065.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Equinix from $936.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Equinix from $1,033.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Moffett Nathanson raised shares of Equinix from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Equinix from $995.00 to $1,080.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $995.24.

About Equinix

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.