Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Bought by AMF Tjanstepension AB

AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 371,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,790 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB’s holdings in Aflac were worth $40,719,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. DNB Asset Management AS raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 51.3% in the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 168,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,526,000 after buying an additional 56,975 shares in the last quarter. BIP Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 348.3% during the 4th quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 55,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,145,000 after acquiring an additional 43,293 shares in the last quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,743,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Aflac by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,866,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $206,712,000 after acquiring an additional 97,766 shares during the period. Finally, Dorato Capital Management acquired a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter worth about $20,865,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 27,845 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.71, for a total value of $3,249,789.95. Following the transaction, the insider owned 50,898,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,940,362,767.90. This represents a 0.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 12,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.54, for a total value of $1,441,599.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 33,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,881,947.40. This represents a 27.08% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 744,916 shares of company stock valued at $87,118,632 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE AFL opened at $121.98 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.61. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $122.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $116.91 and a 200-day moving average of $113.30.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.66 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on AFL. Mizuho set a $112.00 price target on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $124.00 price objective (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings cut Aflac from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Evercore raised Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $114.08.

Aflac Company 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.