Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) Shares Bought by Citigroup Inc.

Key Points

• Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in Equinix, Inc. by 145.6% in Q1, acquiring 88,033 additional shares, raising their total ownership to 148,509 shares valued at approximately $121 million.
• Research firms have mixed opinions on Equinix, with price targets ranging from $880 to $1,069 and an average target price of $959.86, while the stock holds an average rating of "Buy."
• Equinix announced a quarterly dividend of $4.69 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 2.4%, amidst a high dividend payout ratio of 183.74%.

Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX - Free Report) by 145.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 148,509 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 88,033 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned about 0.15% of Equinix worth $121,087,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EQIX. Swiss National Bank grew its position in Equinix by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 272,203 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $221,941,000 after purchasing an additional 3,900 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Equinix by 11.0% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 239,779 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $195,504,000 after purchasing an additional 23,721 shares during the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP grew its position in Equinix by 313.7% during the 1st quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 14,317 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $11,673,000 after purchasing an additional 10,856 shares during the last quarter. Arjuna Capital purchased a new stake in Equinix during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,197,000. Finally, Gagnon Securities LLC grew its position in Equinix by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 13,590 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $11,081,000 after purchasing an additional 749 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equinix

In other Equinix news, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 2,949 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 9,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,508,409.65. This trade represents a 23.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Christopher B. Paisley sold 100 shares of the firm'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 value of $86,941.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 17,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,274,664.29. This represents a 0.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Equinix from $1,050.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Cfra Research cut shares of Equinix from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Equinix from $935.00 to $940.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Equinix from $1,000.00 to $950.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Equinix from $1,030.00 to $965.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Equinix currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $959.86.

Equinix Stock Up 0.1%

NASDAQ EQIX traded up $0.55 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $776.75. 311,785 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 522,996. The company has a 50 day moving average of $820.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $847.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.01 billion, a PE ratio of 76.08, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.90. Equinix, Inc. has a 12 month low of $701.41 and a 12 month high of $994.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

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

Equinix Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $4.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $18.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Equinix's payout ratio is 183.74%.

About Equinix

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.