ING Group, N.V. $ING Shares Sold by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. cut its stake in ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING) by 8.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,773 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,940 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in ING Group were worth $454,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Wealthstar Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of ING Group by 21.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wealthstar Advisors LLC now owns 74,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,625,000 after purchasing an additional 13,272 shares during the period. Callan Family Office LLC grew its position in ING Group by 75.2% during the second quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 104,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,291,000 after buying an additional 44,960 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in ING Group by 45.5% in the second quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 279,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,116,000 after buying an additional 87,464 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new position in ING Group in the second quarter valued at $206,000. Finally, Abel Hall LLC acquired a new position in shares of ING Group in the second quarter worth about $210,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 4.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays upgraded ING Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Cfra Research raised ING Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Weiss Ratings cut ING Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded ING Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, ING Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

ING Group Price Performance

NYSE:ING opened at $24.01 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $24.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.20. ING Group, N.V. has a 12 month low of $15.09 and a 12 month high of $26.27. The firm has a market cap of $75.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. ING Group had a return on equity of 11.62% and a net margin of 27.28%.The firm had revenue of $6.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.40 billion. On average, analysts expect that ING Group, N.V. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ING Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 25th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.4002 per share. This represents a yield of 450.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. ING Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.80%.

About ING Group

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.