Bessemer Group Inc. Buys 23,032 Shares of Voya Financial, Inc. $VOYA

Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA) by 37.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 84,340 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 23,032 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Voya Financial were worth $5,764,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VOYA. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Voya Financial by 75.5% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 351 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Voya Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in Voya Financial during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Systematic Financial Management LP acquired a new position in Voya Financial during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in Voya Financial by 59.6% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 573 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. 96.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Voya Financial

In other news, insider Trevor Ogle sold 3,994 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $359,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 2,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $259,830. The trade was a 58.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on VOYA. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Voya Financial from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Voya Financial from $100.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Voya Financial from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Voya Financial from $95.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Voya Financial from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $117.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.69.

Voya Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Voya Financial stock opened at $98.67 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $89.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.88. 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 has a market capitalization of $8.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.90, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.91. Voya Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $64.50 and a 52 week high of $103.85.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.24. Voya Financial had a return on equity of 13.84% and a net margin of 8.24%.The business had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.00 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 9.4 EPS for the current year.

Voya Financial Announces Dividend

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

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.