Stevens Capital Management LP Trims Stake in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Stevens Capital Management LP decreased its stake in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 70.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 507 shares during the quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings in Equinix were worth $203,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Equinix by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,894,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,681,256,000 after purchasing an additional 5,910 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equinix by 76.5% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 90 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Equinix by 64.7% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,635,000 after buying an additional 3,820 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equinix by 80.0% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its position in Equinix by 34.4% during the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $718,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equinix Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of EQIX opened at $852.44 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. Equinix, Inc. has a 12 month low of $684.14 and a 12 month high of $994.03. The stock has a market cap of $82.97 billion, a PE ratio of 99.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $902.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $909.60.

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

Equinix Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $4.69 per share. This is an increase from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $18.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. Equinix’s payout ratio is 219.42%.

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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 1,370 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $909.51, for a total transaction of $1,246,028.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,329 shares in the company, valued at $3,937,268.79. This trade represents a 24.04 % 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 in the last quarter. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on EQIX shares. Barclays increased their price target on Equinix from $822.00 to $834.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Citizens Jmp raised Equinix to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Equinix from $1,085.00 to $1,065.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Equinix from $1,075.00 to $1,065.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Equinix from $1,033.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Three equities 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $990.06.

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.