First Business Financial Services Inc. Raises Stake in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

First Business Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Equinix were worth $2,649,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Equinix by 9.2% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 20,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,099,000 after acquiring an additional 1,716 shares in the last quarter. Brookfield Corp ON increased its holdings in shares of Equinix by 67.3% during the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 80,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $71,685,000 after acquiring an additional 32,481 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equinix by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,361,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Thematics Asset Management boosted its position in Equinix by 17.7% in the third quarter. Thematics Asset Management now owns 39,951 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,462,000 after buying an additional 6,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Equinix by 46.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 294,696 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $278,712,000 after buying an additional 92,975 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equinix Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EQIX opened at $921.02 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $926.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $906.92. 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 company has a market capitalization of $89.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.72, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.72. Equinix, Inc. has a 12-month low of $684.14 and a 12-month high of $994.03.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 EPS for the current year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. This is an increase 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%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on EQIX. Scotiabank upped their target price on Equinix from $1,033.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Equinix from $995.00 to $1,080.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $1,200.00 price objective on shares of Equinix in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays increased their target price on Equinix from $810.00 to $822.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson upgraded Equinix from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equinix currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $995.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Christopher B. Paisley sold 125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $912.21, for a total transaction of $114,026.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,669 shares in the company, valued at $16,117,838.49. This trade represents a 0.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Raouf Abdel sold 1,331 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,945,508.09. The trade was a 16.83 % 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 valued at $17,466,950. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by 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.