Voya Investment Management LLC Sells 13,051 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Voya Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 152,421 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 13,051 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $15,766,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,340,298 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,310,640,000 after acquiring an additional 653,275 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Aflac by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,465,433 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,286,042,000 after purchasing an additional 288,482 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $349,699,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Aflac by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,226,681 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $333,768,000 after purchasing an additional 47,119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 81.1% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,753,513 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $285,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,232,683 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Aflac Trading Down 4.7 %

Aflac stock traded down $5.08 during trading on Thursday, reaching $103.60. The company had a trading volume of 3,391,203 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,121,662. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.79, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.81. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $107.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.06. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $80.59 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.01). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. Aflac's payout ratio is 24.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $104.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total value of $3,197,456.58. Following the transaction, the director now owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,360,422.98. The trade was a 37.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,733,048.59. This represents a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, provides supplemental health and life insurance products. The company operates through Aflac Japan and Aflac U.S. segments. The Aflac Japan segment offers cancer, medical, nursing care, work leave, GIFT, and whole and term life insurance products, as well as WAYS and child endowment plans under saving type insurance products in Japan.