Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) Shares Cross Above 50 Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Voya Financial shares rose above their 50-day moving average, trading as high as $99.65 and recently changing hands near $99.41.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $103.69, although ratings range from Strong Buy to Sell.
• The company narrowly beat quarterly EPS estimates with $2.60 per share, while revenue declined 4.8% year over year; Voya also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.57 per share.

Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA - Get Free Report) shares passed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $98.55 and traded as high as $99.65. Voya Financial shares last traded at $99.4080, with a volume of 1,257,300 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VOYA shares. Atlantic Securities set a $79.00 price target on Voya Financial in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Voya Financial from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $111.00 price objective on shares of Voya Financial in a research report on Friday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Voya Financial from $109.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Voya Financial from $107.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $103.69.

Voya Financial Stock Up 1.4%

The stock has a market capitalization of $9.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50-day moving average of $98.55 and a 200-day moving average of $86.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The asset manager reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.01. Voya Financial had a net margin of 7.45% and a return on equity of 12.31%. The company had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.96 billion. Voya Financial's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.45 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 9.17 EPS for the current year.

Voya Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 24th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This is a boost from Voya Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 24th. Voya Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.70%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Trevor Ogle sold 2,093 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.81, for a total value of $200,530.33. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 1.57% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Voya Financial

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Voya Financial during the second quarter worth $850,187,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Voya Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $520,280,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Voya Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $319,539,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Voya Financial by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,699,676 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $184,436,000 after acquiring an additional 248,935 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in Voya Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $38,757,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.10% of the company's stock.

Voya Financial Company Profile

Voya Financial, Inc is a U.S.-based financial services company that helps individuals, employers and institutions plan for retirement, manage investments and address employee benefit needs. Its businesses are organized primarily around Retirement, Employee Benefits and Investment Management.

Voya's retirement business provides workplace retirement plans, including defined contribution and defined benefit solutions, as well as individual retirement products and advisory services. Its employee benefits operations offer products such as health, life, disability and supplemental insurance, along with benefits administration and related services for employers and their workers.

Through its investment management business, Voya provides institutional and individual investors with asset-management and advisory capabilities across a range of investment strategies.

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