Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $975.00 to $935.00. The stock had previously closed at $824.31, but opened at $791.04. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Equinix shares last traded at $716.91, with a volume of 568,602 shares changing hands.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Equinix from $1,094.00 to $1,053.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Equinix from $990.00 to $986.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Equinix from $970.00 to $990.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. TD Securities raised their price objective on Equinix from $978.00 to $1,018.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Equinix to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and six have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Equinix currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $986.30.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 2,949 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $884.91, for a total value of $2,609,599.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,615 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,508,409.65. The trade was a 23.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kurt Pletcher sold 127 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $877.70, for a total transaction of $111,467.90. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,616,723.40. This trade represents a 6.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,176 shares of company stock worth $2,808,008. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equinix

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new stake in Equinix in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Activest Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Equinix by 121.4% in the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 31 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Equinix in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Pacific Center for Financial Services lifted its position in Equinix by 65.2% in the 4th quarter. Pacific Center for Financial Services now owns 38 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Saudi Central Bank acquired a new position in Equinix during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Equinix Trading Down 12.5%

The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $868.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $883.95. The stock has a market cap of $70.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.08, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $9.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.01 by $0.66. Equinix had a return on equity of 6.96% and a net margin of 10.48%. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $8.86 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinix Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were paid a $4.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $18.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. Equinix's payout ratio is 195.01%.

Equinix Company Profile

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.

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