Easterly Investment Partners LLC Buys 32,622 Shares of Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA) by 49.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 98,619 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,622 shares during the quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC owned 0.10% of Voya Financial worth $7,017,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its position in Voya Financial by 56.2% in the first quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 414 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Voya Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Voya Financial by 213.2% during the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 595 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Voya Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Voya Financial by 6,850.0% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 834 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 822 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on VOYA shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Voya Financial from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective on shares of Voya Financial in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Voya Financial from $88.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America increased their price objective on Voya Financial from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Voya Financial from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Voya Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.40.

Voya Financial Price Performance

Shares of VOYA stock traded up $1.41 on Friday, reaching $68.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 611,067 shares, compared to its average volume of 762,319. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.75. Voya Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $63.02 and a 1 year high of $76.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market capitalization of $6.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.05.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The asset manager reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. Voya Financial had a return on equity of 16.11% and a net margin of 10.87%. Voya Financial’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.31 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Voya Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 27th. This is an increase from Voya Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. Voya Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.73%.

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.