Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday after BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on the stock from $1,085.00 to $1,065.00. The stock had previously closed at $935.20, but opened at $899.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Equinix shares last traded at $914.86, with a volume of 152,398 shares changing hands.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on EQIX. TD Cowen increased their target price on Equinix from $865.00 to $984.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Equinix from $950.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Equinix from $995.00 to $1,080.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Barclays raised their price objective on Equinix from $810.00 to $822.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Equinix from $985.00 to $1,114.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Three research 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $999.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equinix news, CFO Keith D. Taylor sold 3,184 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $909.82, for a total transaction of $2,896,866.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 22,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,085,186.32. This trade represents a 12.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Christopher B. Paisley sold 100 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.00, for a total value of $89,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,854,454. The trade was a 0.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,801 shares of company stock worth $15,530,564 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equinix

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Equinix by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,750,000 after buying an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Equinix by 148.3% during the 4th quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 3,461 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,263,000 after buying an additional 2,067 shares during the last quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Equinix by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 454 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $428,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. increased its stake in shares of Equinix by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. purchased a new position in shares of Equinix in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,062,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Equinix Trading Down 1.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. The company has a 50 day moving average of $936.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $894.76. The stock has a market cap of $88.57 billion, a PE ratio of 82.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.72.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $7.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $5.17. Equinix had a return on equity of 8.34% and a net margin of 12.29%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Equinix, Inc. will post 31.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $4.69 dividend. This represents a $18.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. This is a positive change from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.26. Equinix’s payout ratio is currently 153.65%.

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.