Dearborn Partners LLC Reduces Stake in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Key Points

• Dearborn Partners LLC reduced its stake in Equinix, Inc. by 19.0%, indicating a decline in confidence as the fund now holds 24,009 shares worth approximately $19.6 million.
• Analysts have mixed sentiment, with price targets for Equinix ranging from $798 to $1,200, while the consensus rating remains a "Buy".
• Equinix announced a quarterly dividend of $4.69 per share, which corresponds to an annualized yield of 2.35%, reflecting a high payout ratio of 195.01%.

Dearborn Partners LLC reduced its position in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX - Free Report) by 19.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,009 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 5,619 shares during the period. Dearborn Partners LLC's holdings in Equinix were worth $19,575,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new stake in Equinix during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equinix by 127.8% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 41 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equinix by 40.0% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 42 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. Pacific Center for Financial Services increased its holdings in shares of Equinix by 65.2% during the fourth quarter. Pacific Center for Financial Services now owns 38 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Equinix during the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,000. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Equinix

In other Equinix news, insider Kurt Pletcher sold 127 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $877.70, for a total value of $111,467.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,842 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,616,723.40. This represents a 6.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Christopher B. Paisley sold 100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $869.41, for a total transaction of $86,941.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 17,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,274,664.29. The trade was a 0.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,176 shares of company stock valued at $2,808,008 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Equinix Trading Down 1.7%

EQIX stock traded down $13.42 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $771.75. The stock had a trading volume of 500,622 shares, compared to its average volume of 645,087. The firm has a market cap of $75.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.93. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $701.41 and a 1-year high of $994.03. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $833.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $854.59.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $9.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $6.42. Equinix had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 7.27%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.22 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be given 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 presently 195.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on EQIX. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Equinix from $837.00 to $798.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 11th. TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Equinix from $978.00 to $1,018.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Cfra Research cut shares of Equinix from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Bank of America decreased their price objective 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, New Street Research raised shares of Equinix to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equinix currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $957.27.

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.