Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 244 Shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its holdings in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 244 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Equinix were worth $4,879,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of EQIX. Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in Equinix by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 14,272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,457,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Equinix by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 2,789 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,630,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in shares of Equinix in the fourth quarter valued at about $6,071,000. Horizon Investments LLC grew its position in Equinix by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 2,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,022,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Equinix by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,682 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,358,000 after acquiring an additional 991 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on EQIX shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Equinix from $936.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Equinix from $1,033.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. 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 report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Equinix from $995.00 to $1,080.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $1,200.00 price target on shares of Equinix 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equinix currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $989.35.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 1,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $909.51, for a total value of $1,246,028.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,329 shares in the company, valued at $3,937,268.79. This trade represents a 24.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Raouf Abdel sold 1,331 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,945,508.09. This represents a 16.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 19,054 shares of company stock valued at $17,466,950. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Equinix Price Performance

EQIX opened at $855.33 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 100.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $906.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $908.67. Equinix, Inc. has a one year low of $684.14 and a one year high of $994.03.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $7.92 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 anticipate that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a dividend of $4.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This is an increase from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.26. This represents a $18.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio 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.