Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Stock Position Lifted by Invesco LLC

Invesco LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 20.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 33,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,632 shares during the period. Aflac accounts for about 1.5% of Invesco LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Invesco LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $3,702,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth approximately $349,699,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at about $163,409,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Aflac by 12,313.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,504,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $167,237,000 after acquiring an additional 1,491,951 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Aflac by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,296,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $754,700,000 after acquiring an additional 1,357,753 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 81.1% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,753,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $285,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,232,683 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. UBS Group increased their price target on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.93.

Aflac Stock Up 1.5%

Aflac stock opened at $104.89 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $88.00 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $104.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.22. The company has a market capitalization of $56.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.82.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 15.55%. The business’s revenue was down 37.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.66 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 36.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.79, for a total transaction of $106,790.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 26,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,786,791.84. This trade represents a 3.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total value of $290,675.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,728 shares in the company, valued at approximately $711,149.60. This represents a 29.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 40,750 shares of company stock valued at $4,304,295. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

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.