Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 16,644 Shares of Equinix, Inc. $EQIX

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,952,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,644 shares during the period. Equinix accounts for 0.8% of Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Equinix were worth $1,496,204,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in EQIX. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its stake in Equinix by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 522 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $425,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Equinix by 21.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,487,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. bought a new position in Equinix in the 2nd quarter worth about $231,000. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. grew its stake in Equinix by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $854,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Equinix

In related news, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 424 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,020.00, for a total transaction of $432,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 9,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,169,400. This represents a 4.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Chairman Charles J. Meyers sold 305 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $961.19, for a total transaction of $293,162.95. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 12,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,105,226.86. The trade was a 2.36% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 6,380 shares of company stock valued at $6,179,022 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Equinix Price Performance

NASDAQ EQIX opened at $1,083.20 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $1,004.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $871.69. Equinix, Inc. has a 52-week low of $710.52 and a 52-week high of $1,128.68. The company has a market cap of $106.83 billion, a PE ratio of 74.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.01.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $10.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.30 by $6.49. Equinix had a net margin of 15.07% and a return on equity of 10.03%. The firm had revenue of $2.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $9.67 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equinix has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.310-43.110 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Equinix, Inc. will post 37.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $5.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $20.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio is presently 142.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on EQIX shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Equinix from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Truist Financial set a $1,215.00 price objective on shares of Equinix in a research note on Friday. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Equinix from $985.00 to $1,235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Equinix from $1,075.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equinix in a research note on Thursday. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,119.92.

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.