Lazard Asset Management LLC Buys 743 Shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX - Free Report) by 19.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,625 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 743 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in Equinix were worth $4,360,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equinix during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Equinix during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equinix during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equinix during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equinix during the 4th quarter worth about $52,000. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Equinix

In other news, Director Christopher B. Paisley sold 100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $869.41, for a total value of $86,941.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 684 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.51, for a total transaction of $643,308.84. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,377 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,878,652.27. This trade represents a 7.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 911 shares of company stock worth $841,718. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Equinix from $822.00 to $834.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Equinix from $950.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Equinix in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Equinix to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, New Street Research upgraded shares of Equinix to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and six have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equinix has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $1,004.65.

Equinix Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of EQIX stock traded down $2.50 on Wednesday, hitting $868.70. The stock had a trading volume of 53,248 shares, compared to its average volume of 522,341. The business has a 50 day moving average of $826.75 and a 200 day moving average of $892.44. The stock has a market cap of $84.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 101.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. Equinix, Inc. has a 12-month low of $701.41 and a 12-month high of $994.03.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $9.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $9.01 by $0.66. Equinix had a net margin of 9.32% and a return on equity of 6.31%. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $8.86 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 EPS for the current year.

Equinix Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be paid a $4.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $18.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Equinix's payout ratio is 195.01%.

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.