Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) Stock Holdings Increased by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Equinix, Inc. by 0.5% during the first quarter, now owning 497,748 shares valued at approximately $405 million, making Equinix its 18th largest holding.
• Equinix reported earnings of $9.91 per share for the last quarter, significantly exceeding analysts’ expectations, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $4.69 per share.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings on Equinix, with an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $959.86.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX - Free Report) by 0.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 497,748 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,475 shares during the quarter. Equinix makes up 0.6% of Russell Investments Group Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.51% of Equinix worth $405,487,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Equinix by 82,340.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 890,362 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $725,957,000 after acquiring an additional 889,282 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Equinix during the 1st quarter worth approximately $662,663,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Equinix by 65.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,483,781 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,399,042,000 after acquiring an additional 586,034 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Equinix by 22.5% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,590,568 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,296,871,000 after acquiring an additional 291,753 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Equinix by 169.7% during the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 394,223 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $321,427,000 after acquiring an additional 248,075 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 2,949 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $884.91, for a total transaction of $2,609,599.59. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,615 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,508,409.65. The trade was a 23.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EQIX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research downgraded Equinix from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Equinix from $935.00 to $940.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Equinix from $1,050.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Cfra Research downgraded Equinix from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Equinix from $837.00 to $798.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $962.24.

Equinix Stock Up 0.8%

NASDAQ:EQIX traded up $5.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $781.31. The company had a trading volume of 544,847 shares, compared to its average volume of 629,270. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $811.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $844.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick 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 price-to-earnings ratio of 76.52, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.90.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $9.91 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 company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $9.22 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $4.69 per share. This represents a $18.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. Equinix's 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.