Prudential Financial Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Prudential Financial Inc. increased its position in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 17.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 422,627 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 62,955 shares during the quarter. Equinix accounts for 0.5% of Prudential Financial Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.44% of Equinix worth $398,491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of EQIX. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equinix in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Equinix during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equinix in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in Equinix by 108.7% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 48 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Equinix during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Equinix Trading Down 2.0 %

NASDAQ EQIX opened at $834.59 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $903.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $909.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market cap of $81.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.74. Equinix, Inc. has a 12 month low of $684.14 and a 12 month high of $994.03.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $7.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $5.17. Equinix had a net margin of 9.32% and a return on equity of 6.31%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a dividend of $4.69 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This is a boost from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.26. This represents a $18.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 219.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Equinix from $1,085.00 to $1,065.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Equinix from $950.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Equinix from $936.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays raised their price target on Equinix from $822.00 to $834.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Equinix from $1,028.00 to $990.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $990.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equinix news, EVP Raouf Abdel sold 1,331 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $903.71, for a total value of $1,202,838.01. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,945,508.09. This represents a 16.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Charles J. Meyers sold 5,788 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $909.81, for a total transaction of $5,265,980.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 15,233 shares in the company, valued at $13,859,135.73. This trade represents a 27.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,054 shares of company stock worth $17,466,950. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.