LGT Group Foundation Decreases Stock Holdings in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Key Points

• LGT Group Foundation has reduced its stake in Equinix, Inc. by 1.8%, holding 23,601 shares worth approximately $19.24 million after selling 427 shares in the first quarter.
• Equinix recently reported quarterly earnings of $9.91 EPS, significantly exceeding analysts' expectations and indicating a 4.5% year-over-year revenue growth.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $4.69 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.4%, despite a high payout ratio of 183.74%.

LGT Group Foundation trimmed its position in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX - Free Report) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,601 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 427 shares during the quarter. LGT Group Foundation's holdings in Equinix were worth $19,243,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Equinix by 28.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 326 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG acquired a new position in shares of Equinix during the 4th quarter worth about $2,027,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in Equinix by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,916 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,750,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc. grew its stake in shares of Equinix by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 467 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $440,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equinix by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 2,172 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,048,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Equinix Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:EQIX traded up $5.94 during trading on Friday, reaching $781.31. 545,026 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 507,262. The firm has a market cap of $76.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $808.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $844.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Equinix, Inc. has a 1-year low of $701.41 and a 1-year high of $994.03.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $9.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.49 by $6.42. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.26 billion. Equinix had a net margin of 11.11% and a return on equity of 7.22%. Equinix's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $9.22 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be paid a $4.69 dividend. This represents a $18.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. Equinix's dividend payout ratio is currently 183.74%.

Insider Activity at Equinix

In other Equinix news, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 2,949 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $884.91, for a total transaction of $2,609,599.59. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on EQIX. Truist Financial set a $961.00 price target on Equinix and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $1,200.00 price objective on shares of Equinix in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Equinix from $970.00 to $990.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. New Street Research upgraded Equinix to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Equinix from $837.00 to $798.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $962.24.

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.