Equinix, Inc. $EQIX is Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.'s 3rd Largest Position

Key Points

• Duff & Phelps Investment Management increased its stake in Equinix by 9.5% in Q4 to 478,333 shares, making it the firm's 3rd largest holding and representing 4.2% of its portfolio (about $366.48M, ~0.49% of Equinix).
• Company insiders sold stock last quarter — notably EVP Raouf Abdel (584 shares) and Jonathan Lin (635 shares) on March 12 — with total insider sales of 6,380 shares and insiders now owning 0.27% of Equinix.
• Analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus Moderate Buy rating and a $1,046.57 average target, while Equinix raised its quarterly dividend to $5.16 (annualized $20.64, yield 1.9%, DPR 150.11%).

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX - Free Report) by 9.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 478,333 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 41,568 shares during the quarter. Equinix accounts for 4.2% of Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. owned about 0.49% of Equinix worth $366,480,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Equinix by 433.3% during the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 32 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management raised its holdings in Equinix by 209.1% in the third quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 34 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Equinix by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 42 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in Equinix in the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in Equinix by 40.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 45 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Equinix

In related news, EVP Raouf Abdel sold 584 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $965.69, for a total transaction of $563,962.96. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 7,768 shares in the company, valued at $7,501,479.92. This trade represents a 6.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan Lin sold 635 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $965.71, for a total value of $613,225.85. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,418,079.48. This trade represents a 5.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 6,380 shares of company stock worth $6,179,022. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on EQIX. HSBC set a $1,050.00 price objective on shares of Equinix and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $1,127.00 target price (up from $1,087.00) on shares of Equinix in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. UBS Group raised their price target on Equinix from $950.00 to $1,010.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays lifted their price target on Equinix from $1,020.00 to $1,109.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Zacks Research raised Equinix from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Equinix presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,046.57.

Equinix Trading Up 1.7%

NASDAQ EQIX opened at $1,070.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $967.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $849.53. The company has a market capitalization of $105.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.01. Equinix, Inc. has a 12 month low of $710.52 and a 12 month high of $1,072.88.

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

Equinix Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th were issued a $5.16 dividend. This represents a $20.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 25th. This is an increase from Equinix's previous quarterly dividend of $4.69. Equinix's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.

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