Korea Investment CORP Reduces Stock Holdings in Equinix, Inc. $EQIX

Korea Investment CORP lessened its stake in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 48.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 42,184 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Equinix were worth $34,564,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EQIX. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Equinix by 28.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $307,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Equinix by 11.5% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 522 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $425,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equinix by 21.8% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,487,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. purchased a new position in Equinix in the second quarter valued at about $231,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new stake in Equinix during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equinix Stock Up 0.8%

EQIX stock opened at $944.91 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $92.84 billion, a PE ratio of 68.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $855.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $808.90. Equinix, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $701.41 and a fifty-two week high of $992.90. 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 (NASDAQ:EQIX) last posted 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). Equinix had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 14.65%.The firm had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $7.92 EPS. Equinix’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side 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 will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be given a $5.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $20.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.69. Equinix’s payout ratio is 150.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQIX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Equinix from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Equinix from $925.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays restated a “positive” rating and issued a $870.00 target price on shares of Equinix in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Equinix from $950.00 to $1,010.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Equinix from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,006.91.

Insider Activity at Equinix

In related news, Chairman Charles J. Meyers sold 2,716 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $965.15, for a total value of $2,621,347.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 12,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,155,099.10. This represents a 17.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 2,670 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $804.08, for a total transaction of $2,146,893.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 14,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,946,216.56. This represents a 15.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 13,602 shares of company stock worth $11,369,645 in the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Equinix Profile

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.