Walleye Capital LLC Raises Holdings in Equinix, Inc. $EQIX

Key Points

• Walleye Capital LLC increased its Equinix stake by 507.6% in the first quarter, ending with 59,262 shares valued at about $58.1 million.
• Several analysts turned more bullish on Equinix, with multiple firms raising price targets and ratings; MarketBeat shows a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target of $1,153.79.
• Equinix reported strong quarterly earnings, posting $10.79 EPS versus the $4.30 estimate, while also paying a $5.16 quarterly dividend that implies a 2.0% annual yield.

Walleye Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX - Free Report) by 507.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,262 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 49,509 shares during the quarter. Walleye Capital LLC owned about 0.06% of Equinix worth $58,091,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Equinix during the 4th quarter worth approximately $984,355,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equinix by 408.1% in the third 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 worth $929,312,000 after buying an additional 953,001 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equinix by 23.3% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 2,609,011 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,998,978,000 after buying an additional 493,141 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Equinix by 30.0% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,094,808 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $838,798,000 after buying an additional 252,964 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Equinix by 709.3% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 286,288 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $219,342,000 after buying an additional 250,914 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on EQIX. Raymond James Financial raised Equinix from a "market perform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $1,250.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Equinix from $1,075.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on Equinix from $1,173.00 to $1,186.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating and issued a $1,207.00 price objective on shares of Equinix in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Equinix from $1,100.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,153.79.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Charles J. Meyers sold 5,224 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,085.23, for a total value of $5,669,241.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 7,370 shares in the company, valued at $7,998,145.10. The trade was a 41.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Raouf Abdel sold 2,040 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,083.47, for a total value of $2,210,278.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,206,116.16. The trade was a 26.26% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,115 shares of company stock worth $12,022,574. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Equinix Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EQIX opened at $1,028.74 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.19, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.98. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $1,057.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $983.75. Equinix, Inc. has a 12 month low of $720.62 and a 12 month high of $1,128.68.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $10.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $9.67 EPS. The business's revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equinix has set its FY 2026 guidance at 42.310-43.110 EPS. Analysts expect that Equinix, Inc. will post 38.25 EPS for the current year.

Equinix Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were given a $5.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $20.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Equinix's dividend payout ratio is 142.84%.

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.

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.