Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 248,601 Shares of Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp reduced its position in shares of Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA) by 4.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,988,671 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 248,601 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Voya Financial were worth $354,944,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Voya Financial by 1,035,080.0% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 51,759 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,776,000 after buying an additional 51,754 shares during the last quarter. Crestline Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Voya Financial in the 4th quarter worth $1,554,000. Gillson Capital LP bought a new position in Voya Financial in the 4th quarter worth $11,142,000. FORA Capital LLC lifted its position in Voya Financial by 94.1% during the first quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 28,175 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,083,000 after purchasing an additional 13,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Voya Financial by 149.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 25,399 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,877,000 after purchasing an additional 15,216 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on VOYA. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Voya Financial from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Voya Financial from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Voya Financial from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of Voya Financial in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Voya Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.40.

Voya Financial Price Performance

Voya Financial stock opened at $68.74 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $70.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.74. Voya Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $63.02 and a 1 year high of $76.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The asset manager reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.13. Voya Financial had a return on equity of 16.11% and a net margin of 10.87%. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.31 earnings per share. Voya Financial’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Voya Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 dividend yield of 2.62%. Voya Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.73%.

Voya Financial Profile

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.