Aflac Incorporated $AFL Position Boosted by Davis Investment Partners LLC

Davis Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 209.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,019 shares during the quarter. Davis Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $829,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,093,787,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 27.8% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,201,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $609,843,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132,091 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,550,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $499,216,000 after purchasing an additional 67,650 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the second quarter valued at $404,639,000. Finally, Amundi increased its position in Aflac by 22.6% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 3,268,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $358,555,000 after purchasing an additional 603,426 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 113,611 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.53, for a total value of $13,466,311.83. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 50,134,329 shares in the company, valued at $5,942,422,016.37. This trade represents a 0.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 713,062 shares of company stock worth $83,249,518. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Aflac from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Aflac from $137.00 to $133.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.53.

Aflac Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of AFL stock opened at $126.63 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $105.76 and a 1 year high of $131.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $117.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $116.38. The company has a market cap of $62.63 billion, a PE ratio of 18.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.55.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.63. The business had revenue of $4.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 21.24%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 31.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.49 EPS. Research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 18th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.57%.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated is an insurance company that provides supplemental health and life insurance to individuals and businesses. Its products are designed to help customers manage expenses that may not be covered by major medical insurance, including costs associated with accidents, cancer, critical illness and hospital stays. The company operates primarily in the United States and Japan. In the U.S., Aflac offers workplace benefits such as accident, disability, dental, vision and life insurance. In Japan, it provides products including cancer, medical and life insurance.