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

ING Groep NV raised its stake in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 26.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 16,016 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,318 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Equinix were worth $15,101,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EQIX. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Equinix during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Equinix by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 39 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in Equinix by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 39 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in Equinix during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake in Equinix by 108.7% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 48 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Equinix Stock Performance

EQIX opened at $940.59 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $91.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 110.01, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.72. Equinix, Inc. has a 52-week low of $684.14 and a 52-week high of $994.03. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $932.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $899.99.

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 net margin of 9.32% and a return on equity of 6.31%. Equities analysts anticipate that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 199.30%.

Insider Transactions at Equinix

In other news, CFO Keith D. Taylor sold 2,454 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $929.34, for a total value of $2,280,600.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,677,754.68. This trade represents a 9.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Christopher B. Paisley sold 125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 17,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,117,838.49. This represents a 0.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,057 shares of company stock valued at $21,345,223. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on EQIX shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Equinix from $1,075.00 to $1,065.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Equinix from $995.00 to $1,080.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets cut 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. 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, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Equinix from $935.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price 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.