PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Grows Holdings in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 522 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Equinix were worth $12,908,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Equinix by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,894,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,681,256,000 after purchasing an additional 5,910 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Equinix by 6.2% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 4,813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,272,000 after buying an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc increased its stake in shares of Equinix by 14.0% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 8,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,541,000 after buying an additional 1,042 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Equinix by 4.4% in the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 494 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $439,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Equinix during the 3rd quarter valued at $121,000. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EQIX. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Equinix from $1,075.00 to $1,065.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Equinix from $936.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price 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. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $1,200.00 price target on shares of Equinix in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Scotiabank raised 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. Three investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $989.35.

Equinix Stock Performance

EQIX opened at $836.24 on Wednesday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $918.81 and its 200-day moving average is $908.19. The stock has a market cap of $81.39 billion, a PE ratio of 97.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.74. Equinix, Inc. has a twelve month low of $684.14 and a twelve month high of $994.03.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $7.92 earnings per share 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%. On average, analysts predict that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a $4.69 dividend. This represents a $18.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. This is a positive change from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.26. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio is currently 219.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equinix

In other Equinix news, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 684 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.51, for a total transaction of $643,308.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,878,652.27. This trade represents a 7.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Raouf Abdel sold 1,331 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was 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 directly owns 6,579 shares in the company, 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 90 days, insiders have sold 19,054 shares of company stock valued at $17,466,950. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

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.