917,366 Shares in ING Groep (NYSE:ING) Bought by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in ING Groep (NYSE:ING) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 917,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $14,375,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of ING Groep by 1.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 358,479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,510,000 after purchasing an additional 4,542 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of ING Groep by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 92,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,442,000 after purchasing an additional 14,476 shares during the period. ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new stake in ING Groep during the 4th quarter worth approximately $10,129,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its stake in ING Groep by 97.4% in the fourth quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 51,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $814,000 after buying an additional 25,624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of ING Groep by 33.2% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 166,401 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,614,000 after buying an additional 41,457 shares during the period. 4.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of ING Groep from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ING Groep presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

ING Groep Stock Performance

Shares of ING stock opened at $18.56 on Tuesday. ING Groep has a 12 month low of $15.09 and a 12 month high of $20.79. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.06. The firm has a market cap of $64.93 billion, a PE ratio of 8.67, a P/E/G ratio of 6.42 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89.

ING Groep (NYSE:ING) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.02). ING Groep had a return on equity of 11.81% and a net margin of 28.30%. Equities research analysts expect that ING Groep will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ING Groep Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be given a dividend of $0.6526 per share. This is a positive change from ING Groep’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 25th. This represents a dividend yield of 5.1%. ING Groep’s payout ratio is 60.75%.

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.