Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Cuts Position in ING Groep (NYSE:ING)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. cut its stake in ING Groep (NYSE:ING) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 993,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 40,078 shares during the quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in ING Groep were worth $14,924,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in ING Groep by 17.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 202,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,117,000 after buying an additional 29,528 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in ING Groep by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 20,836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $217,000 after buying an additional 3,060 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC grew its stake in ING Groep by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 16,011 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $167,000 after buying an additional 1,673 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in ING Groep by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 14,346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $149,000 after acquiring an additional 1,633 shares during the period. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its position in ING Groep by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 183,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,909,000 after acquiring an additional 8,764 shares during the period. 4.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ING Groep Stock Performance

ING traded down $0.22 on Tuesday, reaching $15.62. 3,236,993 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,051,265. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $14.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.23. ING Groep has a fifty-two week low of $11.78 and a fifty-two week high of $17.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.21 billion, a PE ratio of 7.17, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.58.

ING Groep (NYSE:ING) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $5.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.15 billion. ING Groep had a return on equity of 13.36% and a net margin of 32.29%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that ING Groep will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ING Groep Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 25th will be issued a $0.697 dividend. This is a boost from ING Groep’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 24th. This represents a yield of 6.8%. ING Groep’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.22%.

About ING Groep

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.