Norges Bank Invests $1.07 Billion in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,131,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,067,270,000. Norges Bank owned 1.17% of Equinix at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equinix by 61.6% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 8,427 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,946,000 after purchasing an additional 3,212 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Equinix by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 628,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $592,191,000 after acquiring an additional 2,560 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its position in Equinix by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 243,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $229,263,000 after acquiring an additional 3,164 shares in the last quarter. Brookfield Corp ON raised its position in shares of Equinix by 67.3% in the 3rd quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 80,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $71,685,000 after acquiring an additional 32,481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equinix by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,361,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Equinix Stock Down 0.7 %

EQIX opened at $825.31 on Friday. Equinix, Inc. has a twelve month low of $684.14 and a twelve month high of $994.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $898.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $908.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.53, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.74.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last released its quarterly 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $4.69 per share. This is an increase from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.26. This represents a $18.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. Equinix’s payout ratio is currently 219.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EQIX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Scotiabank upped their price target 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. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Equinix from $1,028.00 to $990.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Equinix to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Equinix from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $978.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Equinix from $1,085.00 to $1,065.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Equinix currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $989.39.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 transaction of $2,896,866.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 22,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,085,186.32. The trade was a 12.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Raouf Abdel sold 1,331 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,945,508.09. This represents a 16.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,054 shares of company stock valued at $17,466,950 in the last quarter. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.