Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Buys 125,657 Shares of Equinix, Inc. $EQIX

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management sharply increased its Equinix stake by 5,149.9% in the fourth quarter, buying 125,657 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 128,097 shares worth about $98.1 million.
• Equinix reported strong quarterly earnings with EPS of $10.79, well above estimates, and revenue up 9.8% year over year to $2.44 billion, though revenue still missed analysts’ expectations.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish on the stock, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $1,143.60; the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $5.16 per share.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX - Free Report) by 5,149.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 128,097 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 125,657 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. owned 0.13% of Equinix worth $98,143,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Equinix by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,398,906 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $10,265,706,000 after acquiring an additional 107,227 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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 valued at $2,252,094,000 after acquiring an additional 588,967 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Equinix by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,969,498 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,542,595,000 after acquiring an additional 56,592 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. lifted its position in Equinix by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 1,211,357 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $937,530,000 after acquiring an additional 5,109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 953,001 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on EQIX. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Equinix from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,075.00 price objective on shares of Equinix in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. HSBC boosted their price target on shares of Equinix from $1,100.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Equinix from $950.00 to $1,010.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $1,200.00 price target on shares of Equinix in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,143.60.

Equinix Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:EQIX opened at $1,059.44 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $1,026.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $887.22. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $710.52 and a one year high of $1,128.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.48 billion, a PE ratio of 73.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Equinix Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be issued a $5.16 dividend. This represents a $20.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 20th. Equinix's dividend payout ratio is presently 142.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jonathan Lin sold 635 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $965.71, for a total value of $613,225.85. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 10,788 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,418,079.48. This represents a 5.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 424 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 9,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,169,400. This trade represents a 4.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 11,604 shares of company stock worth $11,848,264 in the last 90 days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate 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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