Prospera Financial Services Inc Has $8.82 Million Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 11.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 79,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,494 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Aflac were worth $8,819,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AFL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Aflac by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,142,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,301,056,000 after acquiring an additional 6,759,169 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 1,184.5% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,264,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $141,199,000 after purchasing an additional 1,165,676 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Aflac by 132.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,227,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $137,078,000 after purchasing an additional 699,080 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in Aflac by 180.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 252,457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,320,000 after purchasing an additional 565,884 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its stake in Aflac by 402.9% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 653,853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,035,000 after purchasing an additional 523,845 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays set a $99.00 target price on Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Aflac from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings raised Aflac from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Two investment 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.38, for a total transaction of $18,655,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,723,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,812,641,978. This trade represents a 0.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 814,028 shares of company stock worth $91,815,931. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $117.78 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.62. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $96.95 and a twelve month high of $119.81. The company has a 50 day moving average of $112.48 and a 200-day moving average of $111.68. 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 (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

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

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.