Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-nine research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eighteen have assigned a buy recommendation and five have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $1,046.5652.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on EQIX. HSBC set a $1,050.00 target price on shares of Equinix and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $915.00 target price on shares of Equinix in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Equinix from $933.00 to $985.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Equinix from $1,075.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Equinix from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equinix

In other Equinix news, insider Jonathan Lin sold 635 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $965.71, for a total transaction of $613,225.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 10,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,418,079.48. The trade was a 5.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 1,086 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $966.20, for a total transaction of $1,049,293.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 19,574 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,912,398.80. This trade represents a 5.26% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 6,380 shares of company stock worth $6,179,022 in the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equinix

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EQIX. Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its stake in Equinix by 433.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 32 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management increased its stake in Equinix by 209.1% during the 3rd quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 34 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Equinix during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Equinix by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 42 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Equinix by 51.7% in the 4th quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 44 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Equinix Stock Up 1.7%

Equinix stock opened at $1,088.62 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Equinix has a 12-month low of $710.52 and a 12-month high of $1,093.03. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $972.62 and its 200 day moving average is $852.14. The company has a market capitalization of $107.36 billion, a PE ratio of 79.17, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.01.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $8.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.07 by ($0.16). Equinix had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The company had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $7.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Equinix will post 33.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $5.16 per share. This is a boost from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.69. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $20.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 150.11%.

About Equinix

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.