Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Position in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,938,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 44,471 shares during the quarter. Equinix accounts for about 1.0% of Principal Financial Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Equinix were worth $1,827,847,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Equinix by 50.0% in the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 39 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in Equinix by 50.0% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 39 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in Equinix in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Equinix by 108.7% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 48 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Equinix in the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equinix

In other Equinix news, Chairman Charles J. Meyers sold 5,788 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $909.81, for a total value of $5,265,980.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 15,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,859,135.73. This represents a 27.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Keith D. Taylor sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $971.18, for a total transaction of $1,456,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,419,399.88. The trade was a 7.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 16,701 shares of company stock worth $15,441,464. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Equinix Stock Up 1.1 %

EQIX opened at $933.60 on Monday. Equinix, Inc. has a twelve month low of $684.14 and a twelve month high of $994.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $934.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $896.94. The company has a market cap of $90.08 billion, a PE ratio of 84.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.72.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $7.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $5.17. Equinix had a net margin of 12.29% and a return on equity of 8.34%. Sell-side analysts expect that Equinix, Inc. will post 31.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a $4.69 dividend. This is an increase from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.26. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $18.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio is presently 153.65%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on EQIX. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Equinix from $995.00 to $1,080.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Equinix from $1,075.00 to $1,065.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Equinix from $1,085.00 to $1,065.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Equinix from $936.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Equinix from $810.00 to $822.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Equinix has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $994.82.

Equinix Profile

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.