Norges Bank Purchases Shares of 1,131,914 Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 1,131,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,067,270,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of EQIX. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Equinix by 61.6% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 8,427 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,946,000 after buying an additional 3,212 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Equinix by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 628,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $592,191,000 after acquiring an additional 2,560 shares during the period. National Pension Service grew its position in shares of Equinix by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 243,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $229,263,000 after purchasing an additional 3,164 shares in the last quarter. Brookfield Corp ON raised its stake in Equinix by 67.3% during the 3rd quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 80,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $71,685,000 after purchasing an additional 32,481 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Equinix by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,361,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Equinix Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EQIX opened at $825.31 on Friday. 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 12 month low of $684.14 and a 12 month high of $994.03. The company has a market capitalization of $80.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.53, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $898.21 and its 200 day moving average is $908.63.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $7.92 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts predict that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 EPS for the current year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a $4.69 dividend. This is a positive change 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 219.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EQIX. Moffett Nathanson raised shares of Equinix from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Equinix to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Equinix from $1,028.00 to $990.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Equinix from $936.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on Equinix from $1,033.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $989.39.

Insider Transactions at Equinix

In other Equinix news, Director Christopher B. Paisley sold 125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $912.21, for a total transaction 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 684 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $7,878,652.27. This represents a 7.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,054 shares of company stock worth $17,466,950. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Equinix

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.