UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Has $1.59 Million Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 263.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,434 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AFL. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Aflac by 17.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 147,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,309,000 after acquiring an additional 21,642 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 88.2% during the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 5,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 2,528 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Advisor Resource Council bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $202,000. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 4,166.7% during the fourth quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 30,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,534,000 after buying an additional 30,000 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,381,329.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Aflac news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director now owns 61,522 shares in the company, valued at $5,381,329.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 27,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,337,342. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AFL shares. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.46.

Aflac Price Performance

Aflac stock traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $94.14. 1,673,103 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,204,455. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $89.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.97. The company has a market cap of $53.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $71.97 and a twelve month high of $95.49.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

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

Aflac Profile

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.