Westpac Banking Corp Boosts Stake in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Westpac Banking Corp lifted its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 31.9% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 54,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,211 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Aflac were worth $5,990,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Evergreen Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Navalign LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $124.00 price target (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $115.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 12,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.54, for a total value of $1,441,599.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 33,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,881,947.40. This represents a 27.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 27,845 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.71, for a total transaction of $3,249,789.95. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 50,898,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,940,362,767.90. The trade was a 0.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 744,916 shares of company stock worth $87,118,632 over the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Aflac Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of AFL stock opened at $123.34 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $96.95 and a twelve month high of $125.93. The stock has a market cap of $62.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $118.14 and a 200 day moving average of $113.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.66 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.07 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 27.70%.

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.