Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Grows Holdings in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX - Free Report) by 15.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,867 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Equinix were worth $3,153,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Equinix in the fourth quarter valued at $1,067,270,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equinix by 82,340.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 890,362 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $725,957,000 after purchasing an additional 889,282 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Equinix by 65.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,483,781 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,399,042,000 after purchasing an additional 586,034 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Equinix by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,804,227 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,701,188,000 after purchasing an additional 401,991 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Equinix during the fourth quarter worth about $328,899,000. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equinix Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of EQIX stock traded down $4.49 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $888.15. 543,120 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 527,322. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $851.86 and a 200 day moving average of $887.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Equinix, Inc. has a 1 year low of $701.41 and a 1 year high of $994.03. The firm has a market cap of $86.88 billion, a PE ratio of 103.88, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.97.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $9.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $9.01 by $0.66. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.23 billion. Equinix had a net margin of 9.32% and a return on equity of 6.31%. Equinix's revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $8.86 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinix Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $4.69 per share. This represents a $18.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. Equinix's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 195.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equinix

In other news, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 2,949 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 9,615 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,508,409.65. This trade represents a 23.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Kurt Pletcher sold 127 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $877.70, for a total value of $111,467.90. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,616,723.40. This represents a 6.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,176 shares of company stock valued at $2,808,008. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on EQIX. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Equinix to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Equinix from $1,040.00 to $1,030.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Bank of America began coverage on Equinix in a research report on Monday, May 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $1,000.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup upped their target price on Equinix from $970.00 to $990.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Equinix from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and six have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,004.80.

Equinix 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.