Empowered Funds LLC Has $3.29 Million Holdings in Voya Financial, Inc. $VOYA

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA) by 12.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,204 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,458 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Voya Financial were worth $3,293,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VOYA. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Voya Financial by 75.5% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 351 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Four Tree Island Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Four Tree Island Advisory LLC now owns 32,532 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,423,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 59.6% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 573 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Voya Financial by 56.9% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 612 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Voya Financial by 44.0% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 730 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.10% of the company’s stock.

Voya Financial Stock Performance

Shares of VOYA opened at $100.10 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $9.08 billion, a PE ratio of 15.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $92.56 and a 200-day moving average of $80.43. Voya Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $64.50 and a one year high of $103.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) last issued 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 company had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.00 EPS. Voya Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 9.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Voya Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 26th will be given a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 26th. Voya Financial’s payout ratio is 28.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VOYA has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Voya Financial from $88.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Voya Financial from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Atlantic Securities set a $79.00 price target on Voya Financial in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Voya Financial from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Voya Financial from $95.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Voya Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Voya Financial news, insider Trevor Ogle sold 3,994 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider owned 2,887 shares in the company, valued at $259,830. This represents a 58.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Voya Financial Company Profile

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.