ING Group, N.V. $ING Stock Holdings Lowered by Guardian Partners Inc.

Guardian Partners Inc. cut its holdings in shares of ING Group, N.V. (NYSE:ING) by 3.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 550,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 18,792 shares during the period. ING Group makes up about 1.7% of Guardian Partners Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Guardian Partners Inc.’s holdings in ING Group were worth $19,533,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. MidFirst Bank purchased a new position in ING Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Evergreen Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ING Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of ING Group by 1,645.5% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 2,112 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 1,991 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ING Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $93,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of ING Group by 411.2% during the 1st quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 2,533 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 4.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ING shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “buy” rating on shares of ING Group in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of ING Group in a research report on Friday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of ING Group in a research report on Friday, August 7th. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of ING Group in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of ING Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.50.

ING Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ING traded up $0.56 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $33.52. The stock had a trading volume of 1,112,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,809,454. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $35.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.48. The stock has a market cap of $95.88 billion, a PE ratio of 12.50, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.87. ING Group, N.V. has a 1-year low of $23.69 and a 1-year high of $37.52.

ING Group (NYSE:ING) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.99 billion. ING Group had a return on equity of 12.59% and a net margin of 28.15%. Sell-side analysts expect that ING Group, N.V. will post 2.78 earnings per share for the current year.

ING Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a dividend of $0.4580 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. This is a negative change from ING Group’s previous dividend of $0.8796. This represents a dividend yield of 260.0%. ING Group’s payout ratio is currently 29.10%.

ING Group Profile

ING Groep N.V. is a Netherlands-based international banking group headquartered in Amsterdam. Through its principal banking operations, ING provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals, businesses and institutions, with a strong emphasis on digital banking and mobile financial services.

The company’s products and services include current and savings accounts, consumer and residential lending, business loans, payments, investment services, and wholesale banking. Its wholesale banking operations serve corporate and institutional clients with services such as lending, transaction banking, financial markets, and corporate finance.