Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Reduces Holdings in Equinix, Inc. $EQIX

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp cut its stake in Equinix by 7.1% in Q4, selling 10,359 shares and ending the period with 135,869 shares (about 0.14%) worth roughly $104.1 million.
• Company insiders have been selling recently — CEO Adaire Fox‑Martin and Chairman Charles J. Meyers sold 1,086 and 2,716 shares respectively, and insiders sold 6,380 shares (~$6.18M) in the last 90 days; insiders now own about 0.27% of the stock.
• Analyst sentiment is generally positive with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $1,075.91, while several firms (e.g., Morgan Stanley to $1,250, Barclays to $1,109) have raised targets or maintained bullish ratings.

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp cut its stake in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX - Free Report) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 135,869 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 10,359 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned about 0.14% of Equinix worth $104,097,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of EQIX. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Equinix by 28.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 326 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equinix by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 522 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Equinix by 21.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,050 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,487,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. purchased a new position in Equinix during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $231,000. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. grew its stake in Equinix by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,074 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $854,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQIX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Equinix from $1,020.00 to $1,109.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $915.00 target price on shares of Equinix in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Equinix from $1,075.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Equinix in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $1,173.00 price target for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Equinix in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $1,128.00 price objective on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,075.91.

Insider Activity at Equinix

In other news, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 1,086 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $966.20, for a total value of $1,049,293.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 19,574 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,912,398.80. This trade represents a 5.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Charles J. Meyers sold 2,716 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $965.15, for a total transaction of $2,621,347.40. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 12,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,155,099.10. This trade represents a 17.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 6,380 shares of company stock worth $6,179,022 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Equinix Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of EQIX stock opened at $1,089.85 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $107.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The business's 50 day moving average is $995.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $865.89. Equinix, Inc. has a twelve month low of $710.52 and a twelve month high of $1,128.68.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $8.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.07 by ($0.16). Equinix had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 14.65%.The company had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $7.92 EPS. Equinix's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Equinix, Inc. will post 37.72 EPS for the current year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $5.16 per share. This represents a $20.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 25th. This is an increase from Equinix's previous quarterly dividend of $4.69. Equinix's payout ratio is currently 150.11%.

About Equinix

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding EQIX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.