Voleon Capital Management LP Invests $250,000 in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,414 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $250,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Aflac by 10.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,391,127 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $155,529,000 after purchasing an additional 127,911 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth about $594,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 14.0% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 64,569 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,219,000 after acquiring an additional 7,918 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Aflac by 75.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 776,131 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $88,533,000 after purchasing an additional 333,083 shares during the period. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in Aflac during the third quarter worth about $576,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,733,048.59. This trade represents a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 49,962 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,360,422.98. The trade was a 37.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. 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 research note on Thursday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a "market perform" rating and a $111.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $104.00.

Aflac Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:AFL traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $105.73. 2,002,841 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,105,563. The company's 50 day moving average is $107.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.82. The company has a market capitalization of $57.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $83.27 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced 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 previous year, the business earned $1.66 earnings per share. Aflac's revenue for the quarter was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be issued a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.25%.

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.