Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA) Stake Trimmed by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA) by 1.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,405 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 769 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC owned about 0.05% of Voya Financial worth $3,415,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VOYA. Kelly Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Voya Financial in the 1st quarter worth about $270,680,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Voya Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $96,508,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Voya Financial by 52.9% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,437,597 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $98,950,000 after purchasing an additional 497,348 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Voya Financial by 278.8% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 460,803 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $31,717,000 after purchasing an additional 339,139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Voya Financial by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,185,726 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $219,274,000 after purchasing an additional 301,682 shares in the last quarter. 96.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on VOYA shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Voya Financial from $89.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Voya Financial from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Voya Financial from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $89.00 price objective on Voya Financial and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $71.00 target price (down previously from $79.00) on shares of Voya Financial in a research note on Friday, March 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Voya Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.18.

Voya Financial Price Performance

Shares of Voya Financial stock opened at $72.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.28 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The company has a market cap of $6.97 billion, a PE ratio of 13.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $69.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.45. Voya Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $52.43 and a fifty-two week high of $84.30.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The asset manager reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.56. Voya Financial had a net margin of 7.18% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The business had revenue of $1.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.77 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 8.39 EPS for the current year.

Voya Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. Voya Financial’s payout ratio is presently 33.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Voya Financial

In related news, Director Yvette S. Butler sold 1,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.18, for a total value of $112,506.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 355 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,493.90. This represents a 82.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.99% of the company’s stock.

Voya Financial Profile

Voya Financial, Inc engages in the provision of workplace benefits and savings products in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Wealth Solutions, Health Solutions, and Investment Management. The Wealth Solutions segment offers full-service retirement products; recordkeeping services; stable value and fixed general account investment products; non-qualified plan administration services; and tools, guidance, and services to promote the financial well-being and retirement security of employees.