Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Acquired by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,061,308 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 58,018 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $117,186,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Navalign LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Aflac by 95.6% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on AFL. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective 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. Barclays set a $99.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Two research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 27,845 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.71, for a total value of $3,249,789.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 50,898,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,940,362,767.90. This represents a 0.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 12,370 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.54, for a total transaction of $1,441,599.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 33,310 shares in the company, valued at $3,881,947.40. This trade represents a 27.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,042,771 shares of company stock worth $120,575,104. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $120.73 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $116.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $112.89. The company has a market capitalization of $61.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.61. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $120.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released 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). Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.66 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

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