Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) Shares Sold by Westpac Banking Corp

Westpac Banking Corp lowered its stake in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,467 shares during the period. Equinix comprises 0.9% of Westpac Banking Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Equinix were worth $13,009,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQIX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equinix by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,664,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,941,418,000 after acquiring an additional 88,654 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Equinix by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,826,082 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,171,405,000 after purchasing an additional 81,941 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Equinix by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,412,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,269,037,000 after purchasing an additional 62,005 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Equinix by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,938,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,827,847,000 after purchasing an additional 44,471 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Equinix by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,804,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,701,188,000 after buying an additional 401,991 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equinix

In other Equinix news, EVP Raouf Abdel sold 1,331 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $903.71, for a total value of $1,202,838.01. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,945,508.09. This trade represents a 16.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Kurt Pletcher sold 341 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $903.72, for a total transaction of $308,168.52. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,430 shares in the company, valued at $1,292,319.60. This represents a 19.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,054 shares of company stock valued at $17,466,950 over the last three months. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Equinix from $822.00 to $834.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Equinix from $1,028.00 to $990.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Equinix from $950.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Equinix from $1,033.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Equinix from $1,085.00 to $1,065.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equinix currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,007.59.

Equinix Price Performance

EQIX stock opened at $831.55 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $80.94 billion, a PE ratio of 97.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.74. 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 50-day moving average price of $889.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $907.72. Equinix, Inc. has a 12-month low of $684.14 and a 12-month high of $994.03.

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

Equinix Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a $4.69 dividend. This is an increase from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.26. This represents a $18.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio is currently 219.42%.

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.