Barclays PLC Grows Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 15.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,292,807 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 169,637 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $142,558,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 64.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 5,708 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $455,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in Aflac in the second quarter worth about $280,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 11.2% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 150,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,854,000 after buying an additional 15,105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 11,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,261,000 after buying an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AFL. Mizuho set a $104.00 price target on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, May 4th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. UBS Group lowered their price target 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. Barclays set a $99.00 price target on shares of Aflac and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.27.

Aflac Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE:AFL opened at $116.88 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $112.04. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $96.95 and a fifty-two week high of $119.81.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.66 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th were given a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.70%.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.38, for a total value 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 969,156 shares of company stock valued at $110,980,345. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

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.