Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. Increases Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 54.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,529 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 9,649 shares during the quarter. Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc.'s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,848,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AFL shares. StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $111.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $104.00.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of Aflac stock traded up $2.08 on Friday, hitting $105.60. 978,969 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,116,423. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.64 billion, a PE ratio of 11.00, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $107.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.99. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $80.59 and a 1 year high of $115.50.

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

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $2,733,048.59. This trade represents a 3.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total transaction of $3,197,456.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at $5,360,422.98. This trade represents a 37.36 % 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.

Aflac Company Profile

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.