Voya Financial, Inc. $VOYA Shares Sold by GW&K Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• GW&K trimmed its stake in Voya by 4.2% to 978,780 shares (about a 1.02% ownership, ~$73.2M); overall institutional investors now hold roughly 96.10% of the stock.
• Voya missed on EPS (Q: $1.94 vs. $2.11 est.) but beat on revenue ($2.01B vs. $1.99B), and announced a quarterly $0.47 dividend (annualized $1.88, 2.7% yield; ex-dividend Feb 25, pay Mar 27).
• Analysts have a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average target of $85.89; notable moves include Barclays upgrading to overweight (target $93) while other banks set targets in the $87–$90 range.

GW&K Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA - Free Report) by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 978,780 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 42,959 shares during the quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC owned about 1.02% of Voya Financial worth $73,213,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Voya Financial by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,662,301 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $199,140,000 after acquiring an additional 88,151 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 10.1% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 230,930 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $16,396,000 after buying an additional 21,186 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its holdings in Voya Financial by 148.5% during the third quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 151,883 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $11,361,000 after acquiring an additional 90,764 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Voya Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,310,000. Finally, Davis Capital Management acquired a new position in Voya Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,484,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on VOYA shares. Evercore dropped their price objective on shares of Voya Financial from $90.00 to $88.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Voya Financial from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Barclays raised shares of Voya Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $83.00 to $93.00 in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Voya Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, January 10th. Finally, UBS Group set a $90.00 price target on Voya Financial in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.89.

Voya Financial Stock Up 4.1%

Shares of NYSE VOYA opened at $70.39 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $6.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.90. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $74.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Voya Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $52.43 and a 52-week high of $79.99.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The asset manager reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.11 by ($0.17). Voya Financial had a return on equity of 13.96% and a net margin of 7.99%.The company had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 8.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Voya Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Voya Financial's payout ratio is currently 29.89%.

Voya Financial Company 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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