Aflac Incorporated $AFL Stake Lessened by Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. cut its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 28.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 767,711 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 310,711 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $85,815,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Aflac in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,093,787,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Aflac in the second quarter worth approximately $404,639,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Aflac in the second quarter worth approximately $298,418,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Aflac in the second quarter worth approximately $244,516,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Aflac by 161.9% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,184,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $349,405,000 after acquiring an additional 1,968,738 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 113,611 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.53, for a total transaction of $13,466,311.83. Following the sale, the insider owned 50,134,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,942,422,016.37. This trade represents a 0.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 713,662 shares of company stock valued at $83,323,978 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Down 0.1%

AFL opened at $120.12 on Thursday. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $105.43 and a one year high of $130.22. The company has a market cap of $60.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.91, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $116.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $117.47.

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

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th 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, August 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on AFL. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Aflac from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Evercore raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $109.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $138.00 target price (up from $130.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.20.

Aflac Profile

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) is an insurance company specializing in supplemental health and life insurance. Through its policies, the company helps individuals and families manage expenses that may not be fully covered by major medical insurance, including deductibles, copayments and other out-of-pocket costs.

Aflac offers products such as accident, cancer, critical illness, hospital indemnity, dental and vision, disability, life and long-term care insurance. Many of its supplemental policies provide cash benefits directly to policyholders, who can generally use the funds according to their individual needs.