Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Cuts Holdings in Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lessened its position in shares of Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA - Free Report) by 56.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 247,525 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 314,830 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.25% of Voya Financial worth $19,609,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Tony D. Oh sold 715 shares of Voya Financial stock in a transaction dated 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Voya Financial Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:VOYA traded up $0.75 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $80.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 560,960 shares, compared to its average volume of 817,874. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $79.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.39. Voya Financial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $63.11 and a fifty-two week high of $84.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.85, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31.

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

Voya Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Voya Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on VOYA shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Voya Financial from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Voya Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Voya Financial from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. UBS Group raised shares of Voya Financial to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Voya Financial presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $86.00.

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.