Gradient Investments LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Gradient Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX - Free Report) by 22.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,669 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,843 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC's holdings in Equinix were worth $16,853,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EQIX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Equinix by 17.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,338,597 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,188,180,000 after purchasing an additional 203,656 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Equinix by 28.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 326 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC purchased a new position in Equinix during the fourth quarter valued at $209,000. Caprock Group LLC raised its stake in Equinix by 24.4% during the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,533 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,389,000 after buying an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Austin Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Equinix by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 298 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $281,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equinix news, Director Christopher B. Paisley sold 100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $869.41, for a total transaction of $86,941.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,569 shares in the company, valued at $15,274,664.29. This represents a 0.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 2,949 shares of the company'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 now owns 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,176 shares of company stock worth $2,808,008. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Equinix Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EQIX traded up $4.57 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $916.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 264,333 shares, compared to its average volume of 607,330. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.68 billion, a PE ratio of 107.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $835.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $890.74. Equinix, Inc. has a 52 week low of $701.41 and a 52 week high of $994.03.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $9.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $9.01 by $0.66. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.23 billion. Equinix had a return on equity of 6.31% and a net margin of 9.32%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $8.86 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be given a $4.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $18.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Equinix's dividend payout ratio is currently 195.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America assumed coverage on Equinix in a research note on Monday, May 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $1,000.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Equinix from $1,030.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on Equinix from $834.00 to $837.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. TD Securities boosted their price target on Equinix from $978.00 to $1,018.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $1,200.00 price target on shares of Equinix in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and six have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equinix has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $1,004.80.

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.