Welch & Forbes LLC Has $5.73 Million Position in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Welch & Forbes LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 448 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Equinix were worth $5,734,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Equinix by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,231,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,883,018,000 after buying an additional 34,926 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Equinix by 44.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,398,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,015,610,000 after purchasing an additional 431,435 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Equinix by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,187,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $862,790,000 after buying an additional 20,241 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Equinix by 3.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 974,403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $707,670,000 after buying an additional 35,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Equinix by 4.8% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 940,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $683,134,000 after buying an additional 43,143 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on EQIX. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Equinix from $767.00 to $762.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Equinix from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $960.00 price target on shares of Equinix in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Equinix from $910.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Equinix from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $870.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Camp Peter Van sold 122 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $831.12, for a total transaction of $101,396.64. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 7,968 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,622,364.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Brandi Galvin Morandi sold 729 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $832.84, for a total value of $607,140.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,002 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,661,425.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Camp Peter Van sold 122 shares of Equinix stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $831.12, for a total transaction of $101,396.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 7,968 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,622,364.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 4,585 shares of company stock worth $3,818,268. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Equinix Trading Up 2.6 %

EQIX traded up $18.14 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $711.87. 629,249 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 596,912. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $800.46 and its 200 day moving average is $802.10. Equinix, Inc. has a 12 month low of $672.88 and a 12 month high of $914.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.36 billion, a PE ratio of 69.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.62.

Equinix Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $4.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $17.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio is currently 165.28%.

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.