Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Reduces Holdings in Equinix, Inc. $EQIX

Key Points

• The Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund reduced its stake in Equinix, Inc. by 12.2%, selling 1,700 shares and leaving them with 12,259 shares valued at approximately $9.99 million.
• Brokerages have shown a mix of sentiment on Equinix, with TD Securities raising their price target to $1,018 and BNP Paribas upgrading the stock to a "strong-buy" rating.
• Equinix recently announced a quarterly dividend of $4.69 per share, which represents a 2.4% yield, although the company has a high dividend payout ratio of 183.74%.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lowered its stake in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX - Free Report) by 12.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,259 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,700 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in Equinix were worth $9,995,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new stake in Equinix during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new stake in Equinix during the first quarter worth $30,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Equinix by 127.8% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 41 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in Equinix by 40.0% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 42 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the period. Finally, Pacific Center for Financial Services lifted its holdings in Equinix by 65.2% during the fourth quarter. Pacific Center for Financial Services now owns 38 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on EQIX. Wall Street Zen lowered Equinix from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Equinix from $1,050.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. New Street Research upgraded Equinix to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Mizuho lowered their target price 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. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Equinix from $837.00 to $798.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equinix presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $962.24.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 2,949 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $884.91, for a total value of $2,609,599.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,508,409.65. This represents a 23.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Equinix Price Performance

NASDAQ EQIX traded down $11.66 during trading on Monday, reaching $769.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 478,710 shares, compared to its average volume of 628,383. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $808.63 and a 200 day moving average of $843.01. 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 1.29, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.32 billion, a PE ratio of 75.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.90.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Equinix had a return on equity of 7.22% and a net margin of 11.11%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $9.22 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 EPS 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 issued 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 is Wednesday, August 20th. Equinix's dividend payout ratio is presently 183.74%.

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.