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

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 233,201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $27,343,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Groupe la Francaise purchased a new stake in Aflac in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Aflac during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total value of $7,441,560.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 51,169,435 shares in the company, valued at $6,044,133,662.20. This trade represents a 0.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 502,125 shares of company stock valued at $58,965,806. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price objective (up from $101.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $103.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.62.

Aflac Stock Performance

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

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $4.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 26.91% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.78 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 EPS for the current 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 dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s payout ratio 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.