Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Sells 55,724 Shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 9.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 514,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 55,724 shares during the period. Equinix comprises approximately 2.2% of Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. owned about 0.53% of Equinix worth $485,422,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQIX. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Equinix by 61.6% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 8,427 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,946,000 after purchasing an additional 3,212 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Equinix by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 628,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $592,191,000 after buying an additional 2,560 shares during the period. National Pension Service raised its stake in Equinix by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 243,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $229,263,000 after buying an additional 3,164 shares in the last quarter. Brookfield Corp ON lifted its holdings in Equinix by 67.3% during the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 80,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $71,685,000 after buying an additional 32,481 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Equinix by 19.2% during the 4th 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. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equinix Price Performance

Equinix stock opened at $859.52 on Monday. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $923.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $908.05. The stock has a market cap of $83.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 100.53, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 announced its quarterly 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%. Equities analysts expect that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a $4.69 dividend. This is a positive change from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.26. This represents a $18.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio is currently 219.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EQIX. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Equinix from $1,033.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Equinix to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Equinix from $1,075.00 to $1,065.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Equinix from $950.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $995.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Charles J. Meyers sold 5,788 shares of the firm’s 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 stock was sold at an average price of $903.72, for a total value of $308,168.52. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,430 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,292,319.60. This trade represents a 19.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 19,054 shares of company stock valued at $17,466,950. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Equinix Profile

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.