HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 182 Shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its stake in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 21,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 182 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Equinix were worth $20,737,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of EQIX. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equinix in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Equinix in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equinix in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Equinix by 108.7% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 48 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Thompson Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Equinix during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equinix Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EQIX opened at $837.68 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $912.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $908.06. Equinix, Inc. has a twelve month low of $684.14 and a twelve month 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 stock has a market capitalization of $81.53 billion, a PE ratio of 97.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Equinix Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a dividend of $4.69 per share. This is a boost from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $18.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 219.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equinix news, insider Kurt Pletcher sold 215 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $929.73, for a total transaction of $199,891.95. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,157,513.85. This trade represents a 14.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 684 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.51, for a total transaction of $643,308.84. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,878,652.27. The trade was a 7.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,054 shares of company stock worth $17,466,950. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQIX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Equinix from $995.00 to $1,080.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Equinix from $950.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Equinix from $936.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. BMO Capital Markets cut 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. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Equinix from $1,028.00 to $990.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $989.35.

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.