The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Takes $27.34 Million Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 233,201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $27,343,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 64.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 5,708 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the second quarter worth approximately $280,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Aflac by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 150,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,854,000 after buying an additional 15,105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 1.6% during the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 11,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,261,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $124.00 price target (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Aflac from $117.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $99.00 price target (up from $98.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Mizuho set a $116.00 price objective on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, August 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $116.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,044,133,662.20. This represents a 0.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 502,125 shares of company stock valued at $58,965,806. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL opened at $116.45 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $58.38 billion, a PE ratio of 12.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $121.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $116.21. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $104.66 and a 1 year high of $130.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

Aflac Company 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.