Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Reduces Stock Position in Voya Financial, Inc. $VOYA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its holdings in Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA) by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,574,150 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 91,675 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 2.68% of Voya Financial worth $182,765,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VOYA. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Voya Financial by 70.4% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,373,520 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $239,175,000 after buying an additional 1,394,321 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Voya Financial by 23.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,679,580 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $384,849,000 after acquiring an additional 1,095,190 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in Voya Financial in the second quarter worth $34,378,000. Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in Voya Financial in the first quarter valued at $30,022,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Voya Financial by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,539,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $393,270,000 after purchasing an additional 407,426 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Voya Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Voya Financial from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Voya Financial from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Voya Financial from $83.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Voya Financial from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Voya Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.50.

Voya Financial Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE:VOYA opened at $70.73 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.15, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. Voya Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $52.43 and a one year high of $83.58. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.58.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The asset manager reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.23. Voya Financial had a net margin of 7.55% and a return on equity of 13.89%. The firm had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 8.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Voya Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 26th. This is a positive change from Voya Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Voya Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.93%.

About Voya Financial

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.