Aberdeen Group plc Increases Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Aberdeen Group plc lifted its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 435,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 27,750 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in Aflac were worth $45,516,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 1.1% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,307,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $590,161,000 after buying an additional 56,776 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 10.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,575,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $397,510,000 after buying an additional 349,787 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 0.8% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,730,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $192,441,000 after buying an additional 13,575 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 26.2% during the second quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,654,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $174,515,000 after buying an additional 343,881 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 6.6% during the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,607,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $178,725,000 after buying an additional 99,419 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $110.78 on Monday. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $115.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $107.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.25 billion, a PE ratio of 25.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.86.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%.The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 12th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 52.61%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $102,570.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on AFL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler set a $125.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $110.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.45.

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.