Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Purchases New Stake in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. acquired a new position in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,344,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Equinix by 17.9% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Brookstone Capital Management purchased a new stake in Equinix in the fourth quarter worth $223,000. Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in shares of Equinix by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,032 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $928,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Marcum Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Equinix by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $654,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Equinix by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $541,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equinix Stock Down 0.2%

EQIX stock opened at $868.79 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $823.94 and its 200 day moving average is $893.62. The stock has a market cap of $84.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 101.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Equinix, Inc. has a 1-year low of $701.41 and a 1-year high of $994.03.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $9.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.01 by $0.66. Equinix had a net margin of 9.32% and a return on equity of 6.31%. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $8.86 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $4.69 per share. This represents a $18.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 195.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 684 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 8,377 shares in the company, valued at $7,878,652.27. This trade represents a 7.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Christopher B. Paisley sold 125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $912.21, for a total value of $114,026.25. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,669 shares in the company, valued at $16,117,838.49. This trade represents a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,167 shares of company stock valued at $6,658,536 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on EQIX shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Equinix from $1,030.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Equinix to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Equinix from $1,094.00 to $1,053.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 28th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Equinix from $1,085.00 to $1,065.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $1,200.00 price target on shares of Equinix in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and six have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,004.89.

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.