Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 667 Shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Key Points

• Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its stake in Equinix, Inc. by 12.9% during the first quarter, selling 667 shares and now holding 4,507 shares valued at $3.68 million.
• Equinix reported $9.91 earnings per share, significantly above analyst expectations of $3.49, and its quarterly revenue was $2.26 billion, reflecting a 4.5% increase compared to the previous year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $4.69 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $18.76 and a yield of 2.4%.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its stake in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX - Free Report) by 12.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,507 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 667 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Equinix were worth $3,675,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Equinix by 28.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 326 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG bought a new stake in shares of Equinix during the fourth quarter worth $2,027,000. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equinix by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 13,268 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $12,510,000 after purchasing an additional 1,599 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equinix by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 11,800 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,861,000 after purchasing an additional 2,072 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Equinix by 42.7% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 47,066 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $44,378,000 after purchasing an additional 14,091 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Equinix Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of Equinix stock opened at $779.34 on Friday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $823.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $849.99. Equinix, Inc. has a 52-week low of $701.41 and a 52-week high of $994.03. The firm has a market cap of $76.27 billion, a PE ratio of 76.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 1.54.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. Equinix had a return on equity of 7.22% and a net margin of 11.11%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $9.22 EPS. Equinix's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Equinix

In other Equinix news, 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 transaction of $86,941.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 17,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,274,664.29. The trade was a 0.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 2,949 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,615 shares in the company, valued at $8,508,409.65. This trade represents a 23.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays decreased their target price on Equinix from $837.00 to $798.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Equinix from $1,065.00 to $925.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. TD Securities raised their price target on Equinix from $978.00 to $1,018.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Equinix from $1,020.00 to $880.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research cut Equinix from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equinix has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $959.86.

Equinix Company 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.

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