Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Lowers Stock Position in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Key Points

• Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd reduced its stake in Equinix, Inc. by 95.3% in the first quarter, holding only 38 shares valued at $31,000 after selling 779 shares.
• Equinix's quarterly earnings exceeded analysts' expectations, reporting $9.91 EPS, beating the consensus estimate of $3.49.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $4.69 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.4%, and a dividend payout ratio currently at 195.01%.

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX - Free Report) by 95.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 779 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd's holdings in Equinix were worth $31,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new position in Equinix during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Equinix by 127.8% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 41 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Equinix by 40.0% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 42 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Pacific Center for Financial Services boosted 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 purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Equinix in the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Equinix

In related news, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 2,949 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 9,615 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,508,409.65. The trade was a 23.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Christopher B. Paisley sold 100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $869.41, for a total transaction of $86,941.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 17,569 shares in the company, 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 have sold 3,176 shares of company stock valued at $2,808,008. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Equinix Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EQIX traded down $13.42 during trading on Friday, hitting $771.75. 500,622 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 590,650. Equinix, Inc. has a 52-week low of $701.41 and a 52-week high of $994.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $831.20 and a 200 day moving average of $852.93. 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 company has a market cap of $75.52 billion, a PE ratio of 75.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.90.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $9.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 7.22% and a net margin of 11.11%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $9.22 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 EPS for the current year.

Equinix Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. Equinix's dividend payout ratio is presently 183.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on EQIX shares. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Equinix from $1,030.00 to $965.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Equinix from $1,050.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. BNP Paribas raised Equinix to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities raised their target price on Equinix from $978.00 to $1,018.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Cfra Research cut Equinix from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $957.27.

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.