Man Group plc Invests $2.81 Million in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Man Group plc bought a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 23,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,805,000.

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

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total value of $7,441,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 509,215 shares of company stock worth $59,871,461. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $116.02 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $58.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.60. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $104.66 and a fifty-two week high of $130.22. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $121.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $116.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its 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 for 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%. Aflac’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.78 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AFL shares. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $99.00 target price (up from $98.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Friday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $108.00 price target (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Mizuho set a $116.00 price target on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, August 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $122.00 price objective on shares of Aflac and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Two equities 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $116.62.

About Aflac

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.