Bank of Nova Scotia Has $1.69 Million Stock Holdings in Voya Financial, Inc. $VOYA

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia reduced its Voya Financial stake by 38.5% in the first quarter, selling 15,500 shares and retaining 24,800 shares valued at approximately $1.69 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 96.1% of VOYA.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with Voya carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $100.15. Recent target increases include TD Cowen at $120 and Royal Bank of Canada at $107.
• Voya reported quarterly earnings of $2.26 per share, beating estimates of $2.02, while revenue rose 3.1% year over year to $1.93 billion. Shares opened at $98.74, near the company’s 12-month high of $103.85.

Bank of Nova Scotia trimmed its holdings in shares of Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA - Free Report) by 38.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,800 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 15,500 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Voya Financial were worth $1,694,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VOYA. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Voya Financial by 75.5% in the third 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 period. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Voya Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Voya Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Systematic Financial Management LP bought a new position in Voya Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Voya Financial by 625.0% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 551 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. 96.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VOYA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Voya Financial from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Voya Financial from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Voya Financial from $112.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Voya Financial from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Voya Financial from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Voya Financial currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $100.15.

Voya Financial Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:VOYA opened at $98.74 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market cap of $8.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.91. Voya Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $64.50 and a 12 month high of $103.85. The company's 50-day moving average price is $91.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.96.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.24. Voya Financial had a net margin of 8.24% and a return on equity of 13.84%. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.00 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 9.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Trevor Ogle sold 3,994 shares of Voya Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $359,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 2,887 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $259,830. This trade represents a 58.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 1.57% of the company's stock.

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.

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