Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec Purchases Shares of 1,560,626 Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec acquired a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,560,626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $182,983,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 64.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 5,708 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at $280,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Aflac by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 150,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,854,000 after buying an additional 15,105 shares during the period. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Aflac by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 11,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,261,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $117.53 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $121.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $116.21. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $104.66 and a 52 week high of $130.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.60, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.60.

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

Aflac Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total transaction of $7,441,560.00. Following the transaction, the insider 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 498,625 shares of company stock worth $58,523,683. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on AFL. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $99.00 price objective (up from $98.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Aflac from $117.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.