Johnson Financial Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in Voya Financial, Inc. $VOYA

Johnson Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA) by 84.2% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,171 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 6,243 shares during the quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Voya Financial were worth $80,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Voya Financial by 75.5% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 351 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Voya Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Voya Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Systematic Financial Management LP bought a new stake in Voya Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in Voya Financial by 59.6% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 573 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. 96.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Voya Financial

In related news, insider Trevor Ogle sold 3,994 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $359,460.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 2,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $259,830. The trade was a 58.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on VOYA. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Voya Financial from $112.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Voya Financial from $91.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $92.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Voya Financial from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Voya Financial from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Voya Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.62.

Voya Financial Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:VOYA opened at $98.45 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $89.78 and its 200 day moving average is $79.21. The company has a market cap of $8.93 billion, a PE ratio of 14.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. Voya Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $64.50 and a 1 year high of $103.85.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.24. Voya Financial had a return on equity of 13.84% and a net margin of 8.24%.The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 9.4 EPS for the current year.

Voya Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 26th. Voya Financial’s payout ratio is 28.40%.

About Voya Financial

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.