Axa S.A. Cuts Stock Position in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Axa S.A. cut its stake in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 12.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 230,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 32,418 shares during the period. Axa S.A. owned about 0.24% of Equinix worth $174,433,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its stake in Equinix by 105.9% in the 2nd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 144,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $109,028,000 after buying an additional 74,124 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its position in shares of Equinix by 97.9% in the second quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 38,384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,041,000 after acquiring an additional 18,992 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its stake in shares of Equinix by 61.7% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 18,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,753,000 after acquiring an additional 6,933 shares during the last quarter. Masterton Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Equinix during the second quarter worth approximately $5,145,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in Equinix by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 122,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $93,978,000 after purchasing an additional 9,506 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Equinix from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $825.00 to $875.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Equinix from $915.00 to $935.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Equinix from $859.00 to $865.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Equinix from $873.00 to $971.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Cfra reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Equinix in a report on Tuesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equinix presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $883.71.

Equinix Price Performance

Shares of EQIX opened at $887.58 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $823.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $791.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Equinix, Inc. has a 1-year low of $677.80 and a 1-year high of $914.93. The stock has a market cap of $84.27 billion, a PE ratio of 89.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.71.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $3.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.88 by ($4.72). Equinix had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 8.46%. The firm had revenue of $2.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $8.04 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Equinix, Inc. will post 31.01 EPS for the current year.

Equinix Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a $4.26 dividend. This represents a $17.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio is currently 170.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $850.00, for a total value of $734,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,094 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,729,900. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $850.00, for a total transaction of $734,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,094 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,729,900. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Michael Earl Campbell sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $816.73, for a total value of $490,038.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,087,604. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,043 shares of company stock worth $8,282,119 over the last three months. 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.