Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $1,226.97

Shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirty-three ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-seven have assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $1,226.97.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Equinix from $1,210.00 to $1,265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce assumed coverage on shares of Equinix in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,200.00 price objective for the company. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,270.00 price objective (up from $1,240.00) on shares of Equinix in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Equinix in a research report on Friday. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane reduced their target price on shares of Equinix from $1,222.00 to $1,219.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th.

Equinix Trading Down 2.0%

NASDAQ EQIX opened at $993.69 on Friday. Equinix has a one year low of $720.62 and a one year high of $1,128.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market cap of $98.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $1,020.84 and its 200-day moving average is $1,008.86.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $4.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.11 by $0.82. Equinix had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 16.38%. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $9.83 EPS. Equinix’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Equinix will post 38.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 18th will be paid a $5.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 18th. This represents a $20.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 123.96%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Michael Paladin sold 307 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,035.01, for a total transaction of $317,748.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 2,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,535,774.50. This trade represents a 11.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Christopher B. Paisley sold 125 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,103.58, for a total value of $137,947.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 13,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,156,567.72. This represents a 0.90% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 770 shares of company stock worth $807,077 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equinix

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EQIX. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Equinix during the second quarter worth about $11,930,074,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Equinix by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,980,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,941,377,000 after buying an additional 27,643 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Equinix by 26,831.6% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,239,122 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,291,648,000 after buying an additional 1,234,521 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Equinix in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,181,260,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Equinix in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,163,662,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Equinix Company Profile

Equinix, Inc is a global digital infrastructure company that operates data centers where businesses, cloud providers, telecommunications carriers and other organizations can securely house and connect their information technology systems. Its International Business Exchange (IBX) data centers provide colocation services, allowing customers to place equipment in highly connected facilities without building and operating their own sites.

The company also provides interconnection and networking services, including Equinix Fabric, which enables customers to establish virtual connections among data centers, cloud platforms, networks and business partners.