7,053 Shares in Aflac Incorporated $AFL Acquired by Plato Investment Management Ltd

Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 7,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $822,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Aflac by 13.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 6,759,169 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,550,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $499,216,000 after purchasing an additional 67,650 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $420,078,000. Amundi raised its position in shares of Aflac by 22.6% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 3,268,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $358,555,000 after purchasing an additional 603,426 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 161.9% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,184,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $349,405,000 after buying an additional 1,968,738 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.10, for a total value of $74,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 32,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,059,311. The trade was a 1.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 14,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.43, for a total transaction of $1,712,163.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 50,858,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,175,758,583.70. This trade represents a 0.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 523,833 shares of company stock valued at $61,339,113 in the last ninety days. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on AFL shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $124.00 target price (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $138.00 price objective (up from $130.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Aflac from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $108.00 target price (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Friday, July 10th. One equities research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.58.

Aflac Price Performance

Aflac stock opened at $121.74 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $61.03 billion, a PE ratio of 13.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $121.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $116.04. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $104.66 and a one year high of $130.22.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $4.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 26.91% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The business’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

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.