Morgan Stanley Cuts Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) Price Target to $86.00

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) had its price objective reduced by Morgan Stanley from $93.00 to $86.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Voya Financial from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Evercore dropped their target price on Voya Financial from $90.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Voya Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Voya Financial from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.89.

Voya Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:VOYA opened at $69.78 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $6.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.09, a PEG ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 0.90. Voya Financial has a fifty-two week low of $52.43 and a fifty-two week high of $79.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $74.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.04.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The asset manager reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.11 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.99 billion. Voya Financial had a net margin of 7.99% and a return on equity of 13.96%. Voya Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Voya Financial will post 8.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Voya Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be issued a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 25th. Voya Financial’s payout ratio is presently 29.89%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Voya Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Verdad Advisers LP purchased a new position in Voya Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $148,980,000. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Voya Financial by 70.4% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,373,520 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $239,175,000 after purchasing an additional 1,394,321 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Voya Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $97,876,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in Voya Financial by 119.6% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,085,387 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $148,062,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135,935 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Voya Financial by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,516,879 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $487,463,000 after buying an additional 977,870 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.10% of the company’s stock.

Voya Financial Company Profile

Voya Financial, Inc (NYSE: VOYA) is a financial services company headquartered in New York City, focused on helping Americans plan, invest and protect their savings. The company traces its roots to the U.S. operations of ING Group, which were spun off in 2013 and rebranded as Voya Financial in 2014. Voya’s operations are built around a customer-centric approach, drawing on decades of experience in retirement planning and risk management to serve both individual and institutional clients.

Voya’s core business activities span three key segments: Retirement, Investment Management and Employee Benefits.