Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $1.55 Billion Stock Holdings in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX - Free Report) by 1.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and 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 about 0.9% of Principal Financial Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 1.94% of Equinix worth $1,550,970,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equinix by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,664,699 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $11,941,418,000 after buying an additional 88,654 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equinix by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,412,513 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,269,037,000 after buying an additional 62,005 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equinix by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,264,958 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,135,606,000 after buying an additional 81,144 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Equinix by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,902,053 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,793,429,000 after buying an additional 14,294 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Equinix by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,804,227 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,701,188,000 after buying an additional 401,991 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equinix Stock Performance

Shares of EQIX traded down $7.65 on Friday, reaching $787.50. 539,869 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 557,706. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $865.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $874.50. 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 firm has a market cap of $77.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.93. Equinix, Inc. has a 12 month low of $701.41 and a 12 month high of $994.03.

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

Equinix Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Equinix

In other Equinix news, insider Kurt Pletcher sold 127 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $877.70, for a total transaction of $111,467.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,842 shares in the company, valued at $1,616,723.40. This represents a 6.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Christopher B. Paisley sold 100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $15,274,664.29. This represents a 0.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,176 shares of company stock worth $2,808,008. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on EQIX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Equinix from $1,020.00 to $880.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Equinix from $986.00 to $904.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Cfra Research downgraded Equinix from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $1,200.00 price objective on shares of Equinix in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on Equinix from $1,069.00 to $900.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $960.55.

Equinix Company 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.