Meeder Asset Management Inc. Invests $597,000 in Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,534 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $597,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VOYA. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Voya Financial by 1,020.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,368,185 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $175,057,000 after buying an additional 2,156,773 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Voya Financial by 83.8% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,525,604 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $186,310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151,822 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Voya Financial by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,067,291 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $818,094,000 after purchasing an additional 644,216 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Voya Financial by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,055,263 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $146,234,000 after purchasing an additional 248,795 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leeward Investments LLC MA acquired a new stake in Voya Financial during the 3rd quarter worth $19,269,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VOYA has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Voya Financial from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America upped their price target on Voya Financial from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Voya Financial from $76.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Voya Financial from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.00.

Voya Financial Price Performance

Shares of VOYA opened at $79.99 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.35. The stock has a market cap of $7.70 billion, a PE ratio of 12.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.03. Voya Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $63.11 and a 1-year high of $84.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The asset manager reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.07. Voya Financial had a net margin of 8.81% and a return on equity of 15.09%. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Voya Financial, Inc. will post 8.2 EPS for the current year.

Voya Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Voya Financial’s payout ratio is 28.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Tony D. Oh sold 715 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.95, for a total transaction of $58,594.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.