Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Buys 15,561 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 28.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 69,695 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 15,561 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $7,641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Aflac by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,142,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,301,056,000 after buying an additional 6,759,169 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Aflac by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,483,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $494,385,000 after buying an additional 69,025 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth about $420,078,000. Amundi lifted its position in Aflac by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,664,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $293,846,000 after acquiring an additional 32,907 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 36.8% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,125,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $234,340,000 after purchasing an additional 571,793 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total transaction of $7,441,560.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,169,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,044,133,662.20. This represents a 0.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 744,916 shares of company stock valued at $87,118,632 in the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Aflac Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE:AFL opened at $124.36 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $63.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.12, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $118.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $114.11. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $125.93.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.Aflac’s revenue was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.66 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 27.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on AFL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays lowered their price objective on Aflac from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $124.00 target price (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Aflac from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Aflac from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $116.17.

Aflac Profile

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.