Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Acquired by Allstate Corp

Allstate Corp raised its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 106.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,385 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,257 shares during the period. Allstate Corp’s holdings in Aflac were worth $4,122,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AFL. Summitry LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $639,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 300.1% in the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $577,000 after acquiring an additional 3,928 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 76.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,343,000 after acquiring an additional 5,262 shares during the period. Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 58.8% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 14,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,561,000 after acquiring an additional 5,241 shares during the period. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 7,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $902,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on AFL. UBS Group cut their target price on Aflac from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Aflac from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.38, for a total value of $18,655,080.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,723,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,812,641,978. This trade represents a 0.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 881,036 shares of company stock valued at $99,703,131. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Down 1.7%

AFL stock opened at $114.81 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $112.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $96.95 and a 52-week high of $119.81. The firm has a market cap of $58.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.03, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.62.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.70%.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.