Middleton & Co. Inc. MA Trims Stock Holdings in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA reduced its holdings in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,795 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 95 shares during the quarter. Equinix comprises 1.2% of Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s holdings in Equinix were worth $11,121,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Equinix by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,826,082 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,171,405,000 after acquiring an additional 81,941 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Equinix by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,350,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,079,591,000 after buying an additional 33,277 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Equinix by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,938,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,827,847,000 after buying an additional 44,471 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Equinix by 17.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,338,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,188,180,000 after buying an additional 203,656 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equinix by 5.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,134,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,006,724,000 after acquiring an additional 53,729 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Equinix Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Equinix stock opened at $904.62 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $928.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $904.71. Equinix, Inc. has a 12-month low of $684.14 and a 12-month high of $994.03. 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 cap of $88.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 105.80, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.72.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $5.17. Equinix had a return on equity of 6.31% and a net margin of 9.32%. Research analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a $4.69 dividend. This represents a $18.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. This is a boost from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.26. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio is 219.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equinix

In other Equinix news, Chairman Charles J. Meyers sold 5,788 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $909.81, for a total transaction of $5,265,980.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 15,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,859,135.73. This trade represents a 27.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Raouf Abdel sold 1,331 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $903.71, for a total transaction of $1,202,838.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,945,508.09. This represents a 16.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 23,741 shares of company stock valued at $21,988,532. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on EQIX. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Equinix from $1,085.00 to $1,065.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Equinix from $936.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Equinix from $935.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Moffett Nathanson raised Equinix from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Equinix from $1,114.00 to $1,033.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $994.82.

Equinix Company 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.