Northern Trust Corp Trims Stock Position in Voya Financial, Inc. $VOYA

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp reduced its stake in Voya Financial by 29.7% in the first quarter, now holding approximately 939,155 shares valued at $63.6 million.
• Other institutional investors have increased their stakes in Voya Financial, with Kelly Financial Group LLC purchasing new shares worth about $270.7 million during the same period.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Voya Financial, with an average target of $83.70, indicating a generally optimistic outlook despite a small decline in year-over-year revenue.

Northern Trust Corp cut its holdings in Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA - Free Report) by 29.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 939,155 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 396,308 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 0.98% of Voya Financial worth $63,637,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VOYA. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Voya Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $677,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of Voya Financial by 218.8% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,424 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $580,000 after acquiring an additional 5,782 shares in the last quarter. Oxford Asset Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Voya Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $290,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Voya Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,324,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Voya Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. 96.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VOYA. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Voya Financial currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $83.70.

Voya Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VOYA traded up $0.12 on Friday, hitting $75.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 824,148 shares, compared to its average volume of 926,556. Voya Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $52.43 and a 12-month high of $84.30. The company has a market capitalization of $7.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.28 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $72.09 and a 200-day moving average of $68.02.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The asset manager reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.31. Voya Financial had a net margin of 6.73% and a return on equity of 13.72%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.18 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 8.39 EPS for the current year.

Voya Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 26th. Voya Financial's dividend payout ratio is 36.00%.

Voya Financial Company 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.