Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Buys Shares of 97,000 Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 97,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,328,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,190,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $263,254,000 after acquiring an additional 17,892 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at $197,820,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 6.7% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,806,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $155,140,000 after acquiring an additional 113,226 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,577,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $130,129,000 after acquiring an additional 64,202 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,483,726 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $122,407,000 after acquiring an additional 46,642 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $94.38. 643,053 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,193,459. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $71.97 and a 52 week high of $95.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.03. The company has a market cap of $53.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.95.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. Aflac had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total value of $50,904.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,550 shares in the company, valued at $2,337,342. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total value of $1,957,403.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,381,329.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $50,904.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,337,342. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.