PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Key Points

• PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Equinix, Inc. by 4.9%, owning 14,357 shares valued at approximately $11.7 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Equinix declared a quarterly dividend of $4.69 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 2.4% and a payout ratio of 183.74%.
• After reporting earnings per share of $9.91 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations significantly, Equinix's revenue rose by 4.5% year-over-year to $2.26 billion.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX - Free Report) by 4.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,357 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.'s holdings in Equinix were worth $11,706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Equinix by 28.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 326 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $307,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG purchased a new stake in shares of Equinix during the fourth quarter worth $2,027,000. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in shares of Equinix by 13.7% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Equinix by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 11,800 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $10,861,000 after acquiring an additional 2,072 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in Equinix by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 132,228 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $124,677,000 after purchasing an additional 14,654 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equinix Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:EQIX opened at $778.94 on Wednesday. Equinix, Inc. has a 1 year low of $701.41 and a 1 year high of $994.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 1.54. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $827.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $851.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.29, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Equinix Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be paid 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 related news, Director Christopher B. Paisley sold 100 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 17,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,274,664.29. This trade represents a 0.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 2,949 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 9,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,508,409.65. The trade was a 23.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EQIX has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Equinix from $935.00 to $940.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays lowered their price objective on Equinix from $837.00 to $798.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Equinix from $1,030.00 to $965.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Cfra Research cut shares of Equinix from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Equinix to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $957.27.

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.

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