S Bank Fund Management Ltd Takes Position in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Key Points

• S Bank Fund Management Ltd purchased 8,900 shares of Equinix for approximately $7.26 million, making Equinix 1.4% of its investment portfolio.
• Equinix recently reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $9.91, exceeding analysts' expectations significantly, with a revenue of $2.26 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $4.69 per share, scheduled for payment on September 17th, which reflects an annual yield of 2.4%.

S Bank Fund Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 8,900 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,257,000. Equinix makes up about 1.4% of S Bank Fund Management Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Equinix by 82,340.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 890,362 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $725,957,000 after buying an additional 889,282 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Equinix in the first quarter valued at $662,663,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Equinix by 65.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,483,781 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,399,042,000 after buying an additional 586,034 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Equinix by 22.5% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,590,568 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,296,871,000 after buying an additional 291,753 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in Equinix by 169.7% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 394,223 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $321,427,000 after buying an additional 248,075 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equinix Trading Up 0.8%

EQIX traded up $5.94 during trading on Friday, hitting $781.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 545,026 shares, compared to its average volume of 629,349. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $811.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $844.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.54. Equinix, Inc. has a twelve month low of $701.41 and a twelve month high of $994.03. The stock has a market cap of $76.46 billion, a PE ratio of 76.52, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.90.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $9.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.49 by $6.42. Equinix had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 7.22%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $9.22 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinix Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be given a $4.69 dividend. This represents a $18.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. Equinix's dividend payout ratio is presently 183.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. New Street Research upgraded Equinix to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. TD Securities raised their price objective on Equinix from $978.00 to $1,018.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $1,200.00 price objective on shares of Equinix in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Equinix from $1,035.00 to $950.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Equinix from $1,050.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $962.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equinix news, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 2,949 shares of the company's 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 directly owned 9,615 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,508,409.65. This represents a 23.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.