Eastern Bank Sells 8,746 Shares of Equinix, Inc. $EQIX

Key Points

• Eastern Bank cut its Equinix position by 87.2% in Q4, selling 8,746 shares and leaving 1,284 shares worth about $984,000 per its SEC filing.
• Company insiders sold a total of 16,842 shares last quarter (≈$14.5M), including notable sales by Brandi Galvin Morandi and EVP Raouf Abdel, while institutional investors own roughly 94.94% of EQIX and insiders just 0.27%.
• Analysts remain broadly positive—consensus is a “Moderate Buy” with an average price target near $1,015 and several firms raising targets (JPMorgan to $1,100); Equinix also raised its quarterly dividend to $5.16 ($20.64 annualized, ~2.1% yield).

Eastern Bank cut its position in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX - Free Report) by 87.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,284 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,746 shares during the period. Eastern Bank's holdings in Equinix were worth $984,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of EQIX. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in Equinix by 32.8% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 6,217 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,763,000 after buying an additional 1,536 shares in the last quarter. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. lifted its position in shares of Equinix by 305.7% in the fourth quarter. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. now owns 11,766 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,015,000 after acquiring an additional 8,866 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Equinix by 43.2% in the fourth quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 378 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $290,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Equinix by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 25,890 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $19,836,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034 shares during the period. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division boosted its stake in shares of Equinix by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 292 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Equinix

In related news, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 1,333 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $804.25, for a total value of $1,072,065.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 9,551 shares in the company, valued at $7,681,391.75. This trade represents a 12.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Raouf Abdel sold 927 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $801.78, for a total transaction of $743,250.06. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 7,337 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,882,659.86. The trade was a 11.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 16,842 shares of company stock worth $14,494,840. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EQIX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Equinix from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $915.00 price target on Equinix in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Equinix from $950.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,075.00 target price on shares of Equinix in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Equinix in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,015.05.

Equinix Stock Performance

Equinix stock opened at $963.00 on Monday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $907.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $827.66. Equinix, Inc. has a twelve month low of $701.41 and a twelve month high of $992.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company has a market cap of $94.61 billion, a PE ratio of 70.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.04.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $8.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $9.07 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Equinix had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The firm's revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $7.92 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th were paid a $5.16 dividend. This represents a $20.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Equinix's previous quarterly dividend of $4.69. Equinix's dividend payout ratio is 150.11%.

Equinix Profile

Equinix, Inc is a global provider of digital infrastructure and interconnection services, specializing in carrier-neutral data centers and colocation. The company operates a platform that enables enterprises, cloud and network service providers, and content companies to colocate IT infrastructure, interconnect directly with partners and providers, and access cloud on-ramps and network services in a secure, low-latency environment.

Equinix's offerings include traditional colocation space and power, cross-connects and meet-me rooms, and a suite of connectivity and on-demand services designed for hybrid multicloud architectures.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.