Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Makes New $97.35 Million Investment in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 830,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $97,351,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,093,787,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $420,078,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the second quarter valued at approximately $404,639,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Aflac in the second quarter worth $298,418,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew 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 purchasing an additional 1,968,738 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Aflac from $117.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $108.00 target price (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price objective (up from $101.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.62.

Insider Activity

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 13,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.02, for a total transaction of $1,593,270.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 50,778,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,992,853,785.80. This trade represents a 0.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.10, for a total transaction of $74,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 32,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,059,311. This trade represents a 1.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 a total of 498,625 shares of company stock worth $58,523,683 over the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Aflac Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $117.53 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $121.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $116.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.60, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.60. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $104.66 and a 12-month high of $130.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

About Aflac

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.