Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) Sees Large Volume Increase – Here’s What Happened

Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA) saw strong trading volume on Thursday . 724,205 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 37% from the previous session’s volume of 1,149,451 shares.The stock last traded at $100.8050 and had previously closed at $98.49.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VOYA has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $95.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Voya Financial from $91.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Atlantic Securities set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Voya Financial in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Voya Financial from $92.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.69.

Voya Financial Stock Performance

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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $87.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.36. The firm has a market cap of $9.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.04, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.91.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.24. Voya Financial had a net margin of 8.24% and a return on equity of 13.84%. The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.00 EPS. Voya Financial’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 9.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Voya Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th were given a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 26th. Voya Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.40%.

Insider Transactions at Voya Financial

In other news, insider Trevor Ogle sold 3,994 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $359,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed 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

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VOYA. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Voya Financial by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,492,908 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $334,677,000 after purchasing an additional 230,877 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Voya Financial by 1.3% in the first quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,673,118 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $250,947,000 after buying an additional 46,906 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its stake in Voya Financial by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,557,281 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $265,363,000 after acquiring an additional 61,962 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Voya Financial by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,418,536 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $242,716,000 after purchasing an additional 219,130 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Voya Financial by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,706,354 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $201,596,000 after purchasing an additional 44,053 shares in the last quarter. 96.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.