Stevens Capital Management LP Purchases 6,031 Shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Key Points

• Stevens Capital Management LP significantly increased its stake in Equinix, Inc. by 2,805.1% during the first quarter, making it the 21st largest position in their portfolio.
• CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 2,949 shares of Equinix stock, reducing their position by 23.47% and indicating potential insider selling pressure.
• A number of analysts have downgraded Equinix's ratings recently, with Wells Fargo reducing the target price from $1,065.00 to $925.00 while maintaining an "overweight" rating.

Stevens Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX - Free Report) by 2,805.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,246 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,031 shares during the period. Equinix accounts for about 1.3% of Stevens Capital Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Stevens Capital Management LP's holdings in Equinix were worth $5,093,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Truist Financial Corp grew its position in Equinix by 8.2% in the first quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 52,301 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $42,643,000 after acquiring an additional 3,981 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Equinix by 71.7% in the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 74,434 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $60,690,000 after acquiring an additional 31,073 shares in the last quarter. First United Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Equinix in the first quarter valued at approximately $451,000. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY grew its position in Equinix by 20.1% in the first quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 3,864 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,150,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in Equinix by 113.2% in the first quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 17,954 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $14,639,000 after acquiring an additional 9,534 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equinix Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of Equinix stock traded up $18.06 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $811.68. 257,845 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 641,942. The stock has a market cap of $79.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.54, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.93. 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 twelve month low of $701.41 and a twelve month high of $994.03. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $837.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $856.10.

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

Equinix Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st were issued a $4.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $18.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. Equinix's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 195.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on EQIX. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Equinix from $837.00 to $798.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Equinix from $1,065.00 to $925.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $1,200.00 price objective on shares of Equinix in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. UBS Group lowered their target price on Equinix from $1,035.00 to $950.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Cfra Research lowered Equinix from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. 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 MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $957.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equinix news, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 2,949 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $884.91, for a total value of $2,609,599.59. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,615 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,508,409.65. The trade was a 23.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Kurt Pletcher sold 127 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $877.70, for a total value of $111,467.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,616,723.40. This represents a 6.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,176 shares of company stock worth $2,808,008. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.