Fisher Funds Management LTD Boosts Stock Position in Equinix, Inc. $EQIX

Key Points

• Fisher Funds Management LTD boosted its stake in Equinix by 8.7% in Q4, now owning 22,503 shares valued at about $17.26 million.
• Insiders have been net sellers, disposing of 6,380 shares (~$6.18 million) in the past 90 days (including sales by Chairman Charles J. Meyers and Brandi Galvin Morandi), leaving insiders with 0.27% ownership.
• Analysts have mostly raised targets—Citigroup to $1,200 and others higher—driving a MarketBeat consensus price target of $1,046.57 and an overall "Moderate Buy" rating.

Fisher Funds Management LTD boosted its holdings in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX - Free Report) by 8.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,503 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,805 shares during the quarter. Fisher Funds Management LTD's holdings in Equinix were worth $17,263,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its holdings in Equinix by 433.3% in the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 32 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management increased its holdings in Equinix by 209.1% in the third quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 34 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Equinix by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 42 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in Equinix by 40.6% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 45 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equinix during the third quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equinix

In other news, Chairman Charles J. Meyers sold 305 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $961.19, for a total transaction of $293,162.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 12,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,105,226.86. This represents a 2.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 424 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,020.00, for a total transaction of $432,480.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 9,970 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,169,400. This trade represents a 4.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 6,380 shares of company stock valued at $6,179,022. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,075.00 price objective on Equinix in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Equinix from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Equinix from $1,070.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Equinix from $933.00 to $985.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Equinix from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Equinix has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,046.57.

Equinix Price Performance

Shares of EQIX opened at $1,070.90 on Friday. Equinix, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $710.52 and a fifty-two week high of $1,072.88. The company has a market capitalization of $105.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $967.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $849.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.32.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $8.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.07 by ($0.16). Equinix had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 14.65%.The business had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $7.92 EPS. Equinix's quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $5.16 per share. This represents a $20.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. This is a positive change from Equinix's previous quarterly dividend of $4.69. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 25th. Equinix's payout ratio is currently 150.11%.

Equinix Profile

Equinix, Inc is a global provider of digital infrastructure and interconnection services, specializing in carrier-neutral data centers and colocation. The company operates a platform that enables enterprises, cloud and network service providers, and content companies to colocate IT infrastructure, interconnect directly with partners and providers, and access cloud on-ramps and network services in a secure, low-latency environment.

Equinix's offerings include traditional colocation space and power, cross-connects and meet-me rooms, and a suite of connectivity and on-demand services designed for hybrid multicloud architectures.

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