Howard Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Equinix were worth $549,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equinix in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Equinix by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 39 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its holdings in Equinix by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 39 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equinix during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equinix by 108.7% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 48 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Keith D. Taylor sold 1,500 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $971.18, for a total value of $1,456,770.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,419,399.88. The trade was a 7.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Kurt Pletcher sold 222 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $962.20, for a total transaction of $213,608.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $976,633. The trade was a 17.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,741 shares of company stock valued at $21,988,532 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EQIX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Equinix from $810.00 to $822.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Moffett Nathanson upgraded shares of Equinix from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Equinix from $950.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research 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 stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Equinix from $1,085.00 to $1,065.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $994.82.

Equinix Trading Down 1.2 %

EQIX stock opened at $909.01 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. Equinix, Inc. has a one year low of $684.14 and a one year high of $994.03. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $930.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $903.41. The company has a market capitalization of $88.48 billion, a PE ratio of 106.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.72.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last posted 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 9.32% and a return on equity of 6.31%. As a group, analysts predict that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a dividend of $4.69 per share. This represents a $18.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. This is a positive change from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.26. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.