3,451,076 Shares in Aflac Incorporated $AFL Bought by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,451,076 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $404,639,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.69% of Aflac at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the second quarter valued at about $27,343,000. Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the second quarter worth about $5,363,000. Fiduciary Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the second quarter worth about $47,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Visionary Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in Aflac in the second quarter valued at about $353,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $116.17 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $58.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.60. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $104.66 and a twelve month high of $130.22. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $121.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $116.21.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total value of $7,441,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,169,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,044,133,662.20. The trade was a 0.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 494,225 shares of company stock valued at $57,960,715. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AFL shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $108.00 price objective (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen cut Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $117.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.62.

Aflac 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.