Proficio Capital Partners LLC Acquires New Stake in Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 55,298 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $3,806,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC owned 0.06% of Voya Financial as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 277.8% during the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,898,785 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $199,062,000 after acquiring an additional 2,131,578 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Voya Financial by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,472,277 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $445,487,000 after purchasing an additional 876,399 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Voya Financial during the 4th quarter worth $47,155,000. FMR LLC raised its position in Voya Financial by 25.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,884,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $228,474,000 after purchasing an additional 592,523 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Voya Financial in the 3rd quarter worth $8,944,000. 96.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on VOYA. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Voya Financial from $94.00 to $89.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Voya Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $76.00 to $87.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Voya Financial from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays downgraded shares of Voya Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Voya Financial from $90.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.55.

Voya Financial Price Performance

Shares of VOYA opened at $67.47 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $70.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.60. The company has a market cap of $6.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Voya Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $64.10 and a twelve month high of $84.30.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by ($0.65). Voya Financial had a return on equity of 14.10% and a net margin of 8.29%. As a group, analysts predict that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 8.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Voya Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Voya Financial’s payout ratio is 29.41%.

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.