Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX - Free Report) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,902,214 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 36,358 shares during the quarter. Equinix accounts for 0.9% of Principal Financial Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 1.94% of Equinix worth $1,550,970,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in Equinix by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 360 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $340,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. First Financial Bankshares Inc raised its position in Equinix by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. First Financial Bankshares Inc now owns 2,470 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,329,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its position in Equinix by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 84 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. Griffin Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Equinix by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,771 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,444,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. Finally, Sava Infond d.o.o. raised its position in Equinix by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Sava Infond d.o.o. now owns 678 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $553,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EQIX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Equinix from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $1,045.00 to $850.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Equinix from $986.00 to $904.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. TD Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Equinix from $978.00 to $1,018.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $1,200.00 price objective on shares of Equinix in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, June 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equinix has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $960.55.

Insider Transactions at Equinix

In other news, Director Christopher B. Paisley sold 100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $869.41, for a total value of $86,941.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 17,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,274,664.29. This represents a 0.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through 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 stock was sold at an average price of $884.91, for a total transaction of $2,609,599.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 9,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,508,409.65. This represents a 23.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,176 shares of company stock worth $2,808,008. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Equinix Stock Down 1.0%

NASDAQ:EQIX traded down $7.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $787.50. 539,869 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 557,706. Equinix, Inc. has a one year low of $701.41 and a one year high of $994.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.65. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $865.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $875.18. The company has a market cap of $77.03 billion, a PE ratio of 81.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.93.

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

Equinix Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were paid a $4.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $18.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. Equinix's dividend payout ratio is presently 195.01%.

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.