Wells Fargo & Company Reaffirms “Equal Weight” Rating for Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA)

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $76.00 price objective on the asset manager’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $87.00. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 12.63% from the company’s previous close.

VOYA has been the subject of a number of other reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Voya Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Voya Financial from $94.00 to $89.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $83.00 target price (down previously from $91.00) on shares of Voya Financial in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Voya Financial from $85.00 to $81.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Voya Financial from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.73.

Voya Financial Price Performance

VOYA stock opened at $67.48 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Voya Financial has a 52-week low of $63.11 and a 52-week high of $84.30. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.31.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The asset manager reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion. Voya Financial had a return on equity of 15.09% and a net margin of 8.81%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.07 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Voya Financial will post 8.09 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Tony D. Oh sold 715 shares of Voya Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.95, for a total transaction of $58,594.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Voya Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 48.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 48,890 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,872,000 after buying an additional 15,902 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in Voya Financial by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 272,339 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $21,575,000 after acquiring an additional 20,750 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Voya Financial by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,055,263 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $146,234,000 after acquiring an additional 248,795 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Voya Financial by 25.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,884,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $228,474,000 after acquiring an additional 592,523 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,678,016 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $212,152,000 after purchasing an additional 38,438 shares in the last quarter. 96.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.