Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases 15,543 Shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 216,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,543 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.22% of Equinix worth $207,409,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EQIX. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $1,681,256,000 after buying an additional 5,910 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Equinix by 64.7% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,635,000 after purchasing an additional 3,820 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Equinix by 80.0% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its position in Equinix by 3,780.0% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $172,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its holdings in Equinix by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Equinix

In related news, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 1,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $909.51, for a total transaction of $1,246,028.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,937,268.79. The trade was a 24.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Raouf Abdel sold 1,331 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,945,508.09. The trade was a 16.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,054 shares of company stock valued at $17,466,950 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Equinix from $950.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Equinix from $936.00 to $1,025.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Equinix from $1,085.00 to $1,065.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $1,200.00 target price on shares of Equinix in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson upgraded shares of Equinix from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equinix presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $990.06.

Equinix Stock Performance

NASDAQ EQIX opened at $831.05 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $80.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.20, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $900.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $909.21. 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.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $7.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $5.17. Equinix had a net margin of 9.32% and a return on equity of 6.31%. Sell-side analysts predict that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a $4.69 dividend. This represents a $18.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This is a positive change from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.26. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.