Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) Stock Price

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) had its price objective lowered by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $86.00 to $85.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 23.65% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Voya Financial in a report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Voya Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Voya Financial from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Barclays raised Voya Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $83.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Voya Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Voya Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.67.

Voya Financial Trading Down 1.4%

Voya Financial stock traded down $0.99 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $68.74. 94,868 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 953,008. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.97, a PEG ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 0.89. Voya Financial has a 12 month low of $52.43 and a 12 month high of $79.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.26.

Voya Financial (NYSE:VOYA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The asset manager reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.11 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.99 billion. Voya Financial had a return on equity of 13.96% and a net margin of 7.99%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Voya Financial will post 8.39 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Voya Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Voya Financial by 75.5% during 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. Trail Ridge Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Voya Financial by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Trail Ridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,317 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $622,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Voya Financial by 4.2% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 4,269 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Four Tree Island Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Voya Financial by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Four Tree Island Advisory LLC now owns 32,532 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,423,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Voya Financial by 4.7% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,520 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $338,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.10% of the company’s stock.

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.