Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires 1,615 Shares of Equinix, Inc. $EQIX

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group sharply increased its Equinix stake in the fourth quarter, buying 1,615 additional shares and lifting its holdings by 414.1% to 2,005 shares valued at about $1.54 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with 94.94% of Equinix shares held by hedge funds and other institutional investors, while several large firms also boosted positions during the period.
• Equinix reported strong quarterly earnings, posting EPS of $10.79 versus a $4.30 consensus estimate, even as revenue of $2.44 billion came in below expectations; analysts still rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average target price of $1,143.60.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX - Free Report) by 414.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,005 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,615 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Equinix were worth $1,536,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EQIX. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in Equinix by 408.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,186,497 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $929,312,000 after buying an additional 953,001 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Equinix by 377,167.4% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 716,808 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $549,190,000 after purchasing an additional 716,618 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Equinix by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,875,355 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,252,094,000 after purchasing an additional 588,967 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Equinix by 1.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,291,679 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,410,575,000 after purchasing an additional 162,638 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP boosted its position in Equinix by 1,512.2% in the third quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 170,199 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $133,307,000 after purchasing an additional 159,642 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on EQIX shares. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Equinix from $1,165.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $1,207.00 price objective on shares of Equinix in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Equinix from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Equinix from $925.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Equinix from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,143.60.

Equinix Trading Down 0.7%

NASDAQ:EQIX opened at $1,070.22 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $105.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.01. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $1,043.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $901.37. Equinix, Inc. has a 1 year low of $710.52 and a 1 year high of $1,128.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $10.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.30 by $6.49. Equinix had a return on equity of 10.03% and a net margin of 15.07%.The firm had revenue of $2.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $9.67 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equinix has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.310-43.110 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Equinix, Inc. will post 37.72 EPS for the current year.

Equinix Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $5.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $20.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Equinix's dividend payout ratio is currently 142.84%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 424 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,020.00, for a total transaction of $432,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,970 shares in the company, valued at $10,169,400. The trade was a 4.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 1,086 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $966.20, for a total transaction of $1,049,293.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 19,574 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,912,398.80. This trade represents a 5.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,769 shares of company stock valued at $14,191,079. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Equinix Company 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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