ING Groep NV Grows Stock Holdings in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

ING Groep NV lifted its position in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 26.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,016 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,318 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Equinix were worth $15,101,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of EQIX. Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Equinix by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,883,000 after buying an additional 1,111 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equinix by 21.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,798,000 after buying an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Equinix by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,205,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in Equinix by 37.3% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,656,000 after purchasing an additional 813 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI lifted its stake in Equinix by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 1,468 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,303,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Raouf Abdel sold 1,331 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $903.71, for a total value of $1,202,838.01. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,945,508.09. This represents a 16.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Keith D. Taylor sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $971.18, for a total transaction of $1,456,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,419,399.88. The trade was a 7.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,057 shares of company stock worth $21,345,223 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Equinix Price Performance

Shares of EQIX stock opened at $940.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The company has a market capitalization of $91.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 110.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $932.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $899.99. Equinix, Inc. has a one year low of $684.14 and a one year high of $994.03.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $7.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $5.17. Equinix had a net margin of 9.32% and a return on equity of 6.31%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 EPS for the current year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a $4.69 dividend. 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 yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio is currently 199.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EQIX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target 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. Moffett Nathanson upgraded shares of Equinix from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Equinix from $865.00 to $984.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Equinix from $950.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $1,200.00 target price on shares of Equinix in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $994.82.

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.