Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) Sets New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

by · The Markets Daily

Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIXGet Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $1,075.00 to $1,250.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Equinix traded as high as $1,041.70 and last traded at $1,046.5450, with a volume of 49487 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,030.24.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on EQIX. HSBC set a $1,050.00 target price on shares of Equinix and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Equinix from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Equinix in a research note on Thursday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $1,173.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Equinix from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Equinix from $950.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equinix has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,033.57.

Read Our Latest Research Report on Equinix

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equinix news, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 1,086 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $966.20, for a total value of $1,049,293.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 19,574 shares in the company, valued at $18,912,398.80. The trade was a 5.26% 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, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 424 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,020.00, for a total transaction of $432,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 9,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,169,400. This trade represents a 4.08% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 17,266 shares of company stock worth $14,927,320. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equinix

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EQIX. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Equinix in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $984,355,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Equinix by 408.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,186,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $929,312,000 after buying an additional 953,001 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Equinix by 377,167.4% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 716,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $549,190,000 after buying an additional 716,618 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Equinix by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,875,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,252,094,000 after buying an additional 588,967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its position in shares of Equinix by 23.3% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 2,609,011 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,998,978,000 after buying an additional 493,141 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equinix Stock Up 1.0%

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $947.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $842.73. The company has a market capitalization of $102.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.71, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIXGet Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $8.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.07 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. Equinix had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 9.60%. Equinix’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $7.92 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $5.16 per share. This is a boost from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $20.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Equinix’s payout ratio is presently 150.11%.

Equinix Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Equinix, Inc is a global provider of digital infrastructure and interconnection services, specializing in carrier-neutral data centers and colocation. The company operates a platform that enables enterprises, cloud and network service providers, and content companies to colocate IT infrastructure, interconnect directly with partners and providers, and access cloud on-ramps and network services in a secure, low-latency environment.

Equinix’s offerings include traditional colocation space and power, cross-connects and meet-me rooms, and a suite of connectivity and on-demand services designed for hybrid multicloud architectures.

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