T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Cuts Position in Voya Financial, Inc. $VOYA

Key Points

• T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in Voya Financial, Inc. by 11.5% during the first quarter, owning 692,166 shares after selling 90,377 shares.
• Several analysts have upgraded their price targets for Voya Financial, with Morgan Stanley raising it to $90.00 and JMP Securities to $89.00, indicating strong confidence in the company.
• Voya Financial announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45, equating to an annualized yield of 2.4%, reflecting a healthy dividend payout ratio of 36.00%.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. trimmed its position in Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA - Free Report) by 11.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 692,166 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 90,377 shares during the quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned 0.72% of Voya Financial worth $46,902,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of VOYA. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Voya Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new stake in shares of Voya Financial in the first quarter valued at about $47,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 666.4% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 889 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 773 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 36.9% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 950 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 26.1% in the fourth quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. 96.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Voya Financial from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Barclays increased their target price on Voya Financial from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Voya Financial from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Voya Financial from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Voya Financial from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $83.70.

Voya Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VOYA opened at $76.4340 on Friday. Voya Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $52.43 and a fifty-two week high of $84.30. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $71.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market cap of $7.37 billion, a PE ratio of 15.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.99.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The asset manager reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.31. Voya Financial had a return on equity of 13.72% and a net margin of 6.73%.The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.18 EPS. Voya Financial's quarterly revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 8.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Voya Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Voya Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.00%.

Insider Activity at Voya Financial

In other news, Director Yvette S. Butler sold 1,700 shares of Voya Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.18, for a total value of $112,506.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 355 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,493.90. This trade represents a 82.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.99% of the company's stock.

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.

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