Smithfield Trust Co Cuts Stock Holdings in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Smithfield Trust Co reduced its stake in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 29 shares during the quarter. Smithfield Trust Co’s holdings in Equinix were worth $349,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EQIX. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in Equinix in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Equinix in the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Equinix by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 39 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of Equinix by 50.0% in the 3rd 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. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Equinix in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equinix Stock Up 0.7 %

EQIX opened at $925.72 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $890.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $822.99. Equinix, Inc. has a 12 month low of $684.14 and a 12 month high of $943.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Equinix Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a dividend of $4.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $17.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 153.65%.

Insider Activity at Equinix

In related news, Chairman Charles J. Meyers sold 6,234 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $823.97, for a total value of $5,136,628.98. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 7,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,328,089.60. This represents a 44.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jonathan Lin sold 93 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $820.99, for a total transaction of $76,352.07. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 7,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,862,689.59. The trade was a 1.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,754 shares of company stock worth $11,666,756 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on EQIX. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Equinix from $995.00 to $1,080.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Equinix from $880.00 to $910.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Equinix from $950.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. HSBC upgraded shares of Equinix from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $865.00 to $1,000.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Equinix from $870.00 to $980.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $952.88.

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.