Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 140,392 Shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Clearbridge Investments LLC cut its stake in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 15.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 781,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 140,392 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 0.81% of Equinix worth $736,524,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Equinix by 61.6% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 8,427 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,946,000 after purchasing an additional 3,212 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Equinix by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 628,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $592,191,000 after buying an additional 2,560 shares during the period. National Pension Service increased its holdings in Equinix by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 243,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $229,263,000 after buying an additional 3,164 shares during the last quarter. Brookfield Corp ON raised its position in Equinix by 67.3% in the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 80,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $71,685,000 after acquiring an additional 32,481 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equinix by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,361,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equinix

In related news, insider Kurt Pletcher sold 341 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $903.72, for a total transaction of $308,168.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,292,319.60. This trade represents a 19.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 684 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.51, for a total value of $643,308.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,878,652.27. The trade was a 7.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,054 shares of company stock worth $17,466,950 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Equinix Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of EQIX opened at $803.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $895.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $908.73. Equinix, Inc. has a 12-month low of $684.14 and a 12-month high of $994.03.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $7.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $5.17. Equinix had a return on equity of 6.31% and a net margin of 9.32%. Equities research analysts expect that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a $4.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This is an increase from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.26. This represents a $18.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 219.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQIX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Equinix from $1,028.00 to $990.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Moffett Nathanson raised Equinix from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Equinix from $1,094.00 to $1,053.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Equinix from $950.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Equinix from $1,085.00 to $1,065.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,007.59.

Equinix Company 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.