Vanguard Group Inc. Trims Stake in Voya Financial, Inc. $VOYA

Key Points

• Vanguard trimmed its stake in Voya by 2.1% in Q4, selling 230,184 shares to hold 10,993,362 shares (about 11.55%) worth $818.9 million.
• Voya missed Q4 EPS estimates ($1.94 vs. $2.11) though revenue rose 5% to $2.01 billion and beat expectations; analysts' consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with a $86.30 target price.
• The company declared a $0.47 quarterly dividend (annual $1.88, yield ~2.3%, ex-dividend May 26) and currently trades near its 1‑year high with a market cap of $7.64 billion and a P/E of 13.15.

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA - Free Report) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,993,362 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 230,184 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 11.55% of Voya Financial worth $818,896,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Voya Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Voya Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its holdings in Voya Financial by 5,180.0% in the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 528 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Voya Financial by 625.0% in 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 during the period. 96.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Voya Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VOYA opened at $82.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The business's 50 day moving average price is $70.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.64 billion, a PE ratio of 13.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.94. Voya Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $59.90 and a 1 year high of $83.55.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The asset manager reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.11 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.99 billion. Voya Financial had a return on equity of 13.96% and a net margin of 7.99%.The business's revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Voya Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be paid a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Voya Financial's payout ratio is currently 29.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VOYA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Voya Financial from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Voya Financial from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Evercore dropped their price objective on Voya Financial from $90.00 to $88.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Voya Financial from $93.00 to $86.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Voya Financial from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $86.30.

Voya Financial Profile

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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