Cerity Partners LLC Boosts Holdings in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX - Free Report) by 18.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,979 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,179 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Equinix were worth $11,397,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EQIX. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new position in Equinix during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Equinix by 127.8% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 41 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in Equinix by 40.0% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 42 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Pacific Center for Financial Services lifted its stake in shares of Equinix by 65.2% in the fourth quarter. Pacific Center for Financial Services now owns 38 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equinix in the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Equinix news, Director Christopher B. Paisley sold 100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $869.41, for a total transaction of $86,941.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 17,569 shares in the company, valued at $15,274,664.29. The trade was a 0.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Kurt Pletcher sold 127 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $877.70, for a total transaction of $111,467.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,842 shares in the company, valued at $1,616,723.40. The trade was a 6.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 3,176 shares of company stock valued at $2,808,008. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on EQIX shares. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Equinix from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $1,045.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Equinix from $837.00 to $798.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. BNP Paribas raised shares of Equinix to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Equinix in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Equinix in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $933.00 price target on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $957.05.

Equinix Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ EQIX opened at $760.20 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $854.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $867.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 1.65. Equinix, Inc. has a one year low of $701.41 and a one year high of $994.03. The firm has a market cap of $74.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.02, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.93.

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

Equinix Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were paid a $4.69 dividend. This represents a $18.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. 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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