Easterly Investment Partners LLC Reduces Stake in Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA - Free Report) by 29.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 78,246 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 31,956 shares during the quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC owned 0.08% of Voya Financial worth $5,302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VOYA. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 81.0% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 409 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Voya Financial in the fourth quarter worth $8,018,000. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,355 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $369,000 after buying an additional 698 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ purchased a new position in shares of Voya Financial in the fourth quarter worth $192,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 29.9% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 3,639 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 837 shares during the period. 96.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Voya Financial Trading Up 0.1%

VOYA traded up $0.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $72.45. The company had a trading volume of 400,561 shares, compared to its average volume of 886,530. The stock has a market cap of $6.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.67, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.43. Voya Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $52.43 and a 52 week high of $84.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The asset manager reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.56. Voya Financial had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 7.18%. The business had revenue of $1.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.77 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 8.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Voya Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VOYA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $89.00 price objective on shares of Voya Financial and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $89.00 to $88.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $84.18.

Insider Activity at Voya Financial

In other Voya Financial news, Director Yvette S. Butler sold 1,700 shares of Voya Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.18, for a total value of $112,506.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 355 shares in the company, valued at $23,493.90. The trade was a 82.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.37% 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.