Franklin Resources Inc. Boosts Position in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 58,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,099 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Equinix worth $55,146,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Seven Mile Advisory purchased a new position in shares of Equinix in the fourth quarter worth approximately $225,000. Summit Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Equinix by 164.8% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $836,000 after acquiring an additional 552 shares during the period. Axiom Investors LLC DE increased its stake in shares of Equinix by 170.6% in the 4th quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 118,311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $111,554,000 after purchasing an additional 74,592 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Equinix by 28.7% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,804,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,701,188,000 after purchasing an additional 401,991 shares during the period. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Equinix by 32.8% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 8,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,320,000 after purchasing an additional 2,178 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on EQIX. 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. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Equinix to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Equinix from $936.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,007.59.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Christopher B. Paisley sold 125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $912.21, for a total transaction of $114,026.25. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,117,838.49. This trade represents a 0.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Keith D. Taylor sold 3,184 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $909.82, for a total value of $2,896,866.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 22,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,085,186.32. The trade was a 12.60 % 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Equinix Stock Down 4.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ EQIX opened at $766.21 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Equinix, Inc. has a 12-month low of $684.14 and a 12-month high of $994.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $883.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $906.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.74.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $7.92 earnings per share (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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This is a boost from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $18.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. Equinix’s payout ratio is 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.