Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Buys 157,111 Shares of ING Group, N.V. $ING

Key Points

• Massachusetts Financial Services Co. raised its stake in ING Group by 28%, adding 157,111 shares to hold 717,950 shares worth about $20.1 million.
• ING beat quarterly estimates with $0.56 EPS versus $0.50 expected and revenue of $6.80 billion, and analysts forecast roughly 2.14 EPS for the year.
• ING announced a dividend of $0.8796 per share, payable May 1 with an ex-dividend/record date of April 17.

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING - Free Report) by 28.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 717,950 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 157,111 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA's holdings in ING Group were worth $20,103,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ING. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ING Group by 249.9% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 2,047,717 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $53,404,000 after acquiring an additional 1,462,527 shares during the last quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA lifted its holdings in shares of ING Group by 280.3% in the third quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA now owns 900,936 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $23,496,000 after acquiring an additional 664,063 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of ING Group by 7.3% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,764,562 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $191,681,000 after acquiring an additional 593,424 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ING Group by 885.4% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 411,022 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $11,821,000 after acquiring an additional 369,310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ING Group by 22.2% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,721,021 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $44,884,000 after acquiring an additional 312,720 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 4.49% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ING has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of ING Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of ING Group in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of ING Group in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of ING Group from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of ING Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

ING Group Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE ING opened at $29.25 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.05. The firm has a market cap of $85.14 billion, a PE ratio of 12.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.80. ING Group, N.V. has a 1 year low of $18.36 and a 1 year high of $31.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

ING Group (NYSE:ING - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.67 billion. ING Group had a net margin of 27.50% and a return on equity of 12.05%. On average, research analysts forecast that ING Group, N.V. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

ING Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 17th will be issued a $0.8796 dividend. This represents a yield of 601.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 17th. ING Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.10%.

About ING Group

ING Group N.V. is a Dutch multinational financial services company headquartered in Amsterdam. Formed through the consolidation of Dutch financial businesses, ING operates as a banking and financial services group that serves retail, small and medium-sized enterprises, large corporates and institutional clients. The company is organized under a two-tier governance model common in the Netherlands, with an Executive Board responsible for day-to-day management and a Supervisory Board providing oversight.

ING's principal activities include retail and direct banking, commercial and wholesale banking, corporate lending, transaction services and cash management, and a range of investment and savings products.

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