Rathbones Group PLC Buys 11,763 Shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Key Points

• Rathbones Group PLC increased its stake in Equinix, Inc. by 5.9% in the first quarter, now owning 0.21% of the company valued at approximately $170.8 million.
• Equinix announced a quarterly dividend of $4.69 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend of $18.76 with a yield of 2.4%.
• Equinix reported strong quarterly earnings with $9.91 earnings per share, significantly exceeding consensus estimates, and had revenue growth of 4.5% year-over-year.

Rathbones Group PLC increased its position in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX - Free Report) by 5.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 209,476 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 11,763 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC owned about 0.21% of Equinix worth $170,796,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in Equinix by 40.0% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 42 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Equinix by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,450 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,182,000 after buying an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Equinix by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 248 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $202,000 after buying an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Equinix by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,771 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,444,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sava Infond d.o.o. grew its holdings in Equinix by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Sava Infond d.o.o. now owns 678 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $553,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on EQIX shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Equinix from $1,065.00 to $925.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. BNP Paribas upgraded Equinix to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group dropped their price target on Equinix from $1,035.00 to $950.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Bank of America dropped their price target 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. Finally, TD Securities lifted their price target on Equinix from $978.00 to $1,018.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $962.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 2,949 shares of the company'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 directly owned 9,615 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,508,409.65. This represents a 23.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Equinix Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of EQIX traded up $5.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $781.31. 545,026 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 507,262. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Equinix, Inc. has a 1 year low of $701.41 and a 1 year high of $994.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.52, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.90. The business's 50-day moving average price is $808.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $844.01.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $6.42. Equinix had a return on equity of 7.22% and a net margin of 11.11%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $9.22 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Announces Dividend

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

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.