Weiss Asset Management LP Lowers Holdings in Voya Financial, Inc. $VOYA

Key Points

• Weiss Asset Management cut its Voya Financial stake by 74.4% in the first quarter, selling 23,672 shares and retaining 8,155 shares valued at approximately $557,000. Institutional investors collectively own 96.1% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with Voya carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $100.15; UBS recently raised its target to $125.
• Voya reported quarterly EPS of $2.26, surpassing the $2.02 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 3.1% year over year to $1.93 billion. Shares opened at $98.96, near the company’s 52-week high of $103.85.

Weiss Asset Management LP trimmed its stake in Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA - Free Report) by 74.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,155 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 23,672 shares during the quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP's holdings in Voya Financial were worth $557,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Voya Financial by 75.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 351 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Voya Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in Voya Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Systematic Financial Management LP bought a new stake in Voya Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Voya Financial by 625.0% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. 96.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VOYA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays boosted their price target on Voya Financial from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Voya Financial from $88.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Voya Financial from $95.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Voya Financial from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Voya Financial presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $100.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Trevor Ogle sold 3,994 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $359,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 2,887 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $259,830. This represents a 58.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 1.57% of the company's stock.

Voya Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VOYA opened at $98.96 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $8.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.91. Voya Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $64.50 and a 52-week high of $103.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. The firm's fifty day moving average is $90.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.66.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.24. Voya Financial had a net margin of 8.24% and a return on equity of 13.84%. The business had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.00 EPS. The business's revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 9.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Voya Financial

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.