Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Has $1.62 Million Position in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Equinix, selling 3,064 shares, resulting in a 60.7% decrease in its position, now owning 1,982 shares valued at approximately $1.6 million.
• Equinix reported a quarterly EPS of $9.91, significantly exceeding analyst expectations of $3.49, with revenue steady at $2.26 billion compared to consensus estimates.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $4.69 per share, representing a yield of 2.4%, despite having a high dividend payout ratio of 183.74%.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX - Free Report) by 60.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,982 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,064 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Equinix were worth $1,616,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EQIX. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Equinix by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 326 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG bought a new stake in Equinix in the 4th quarter valued at $2,027,000. World Investment Advisors bought a new stake in Equinix in the 4th quarter valued at $862,000. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Equinix by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 13,089 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,341,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of Equinix by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 13,268 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,510,000 after acquiring an additional 1,599 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Equinix news, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 2,949 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $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 SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Christopher B. Paisley sold 100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $869.41, for a total value of $86,941.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 17,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,274,664.29. The trade was a 0.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Equinix Trading Up 0.7%

NASDAQ:EQIX traded up $5.70 on Thursday, reaching $778.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 237,783 shares, compared to its average volume of 638,066. Equinix, Inc. has a 12-month low of $701.41 and a 12-month high of $994.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $825.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $850.93. The firm has a market cap of $76.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Equinix Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be given a $4.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $18.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Equinix's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Equinix from $1,000.00 to $950.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Equinix from $1,020.00 to $880.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wolfe Research cut Equinix from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of Equinix from $978.00 to $1,018.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Equinix from $970.00 to $990.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equinix has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $959.86.

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.