ING Group, N.V. $ING Shares Acquired by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in ING Group by 2.4% during the 1st quarter, acquiring an additional 185,506 shares, resulting in ownership of 7,894,501 shares valued at approximately $154.7 million.
• ING Group reported earnings of $0.64 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, with revenue hitting $6.55 billion, above the anticipated $6.40 billion.
• The company announced a semi-annual dividend of $0.4002 per share, with a payout ratio of 31.80%, while analysts currently rate the stock as a "Moderate Buy" on average.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING - Free Report) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,894,501 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 185,506 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 0.23% of ING Group worth $154,653,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ING. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of ING Group by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 44,955 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $704,000 after buying an additional 9,630 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in ING Group by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 132,692 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,079,000 after purchasing an additional 10,471 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in ING Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $164,000. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in ING Group by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 42,832 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $673,000 after purchasing an additional 2,516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in ING Group by 671.8% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 560,313 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,780,000 after purchasing an additional 487,716 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 4.49% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded ING Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Barclays upgraded ING Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

ING Group Stock Performance

ING traded up $0.34 during trading on Monday, hitting $25.74. 2,235,753 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,778,515. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.86, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.10. ING Group, N.V. has a 1-year low of $15.09 and a 1-year high of $25.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $23.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83.

ING Group (NYSE:ING - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.40 billion. ING Group had a return on equity of 11.62% and a net margin of 27.28%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that ING Group, N.V. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

ING Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a $0.4002 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a dividend yield of 450.0%. ING Group's payout ratio is presently 31.80%.

ING Group Company Profile

ING Groep N.V. provides various banking products and services in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, rest of Europe, and internationally. It operates through five segments: Retail Netherlands, Retail Belgium, Retail Germany, Retail Other, and Wholesale Banking. The company accepts current and savings accounts.