Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $63.67 Million Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 615,489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 28,197 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $63,666,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 6.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,694,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $524,846,000 after buying an additional 281,148 shares during the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its position in Aflac by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,395,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $247,682,000 after acquiring an additional 118,720 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 8.9% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,662,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $185,869,000 after acquiring an additional 136,238 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 0.7% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,584,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $177,153,000 after purchasing an additional 10,487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 10.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,391,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $155,529,000 after purchasing an additional 127,911 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on AFL. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays reduced their target price on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Up 0.3 %

Aflac stock opened at $104.53 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $104.16 and a 200-day moving average of $107.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.07 billion, a PE ratio of 10.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $78.38 and a twelve month high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.58 dividend. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 20.83%.

Aflac Company 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.