Prudential PLC Has $2.27 Million Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Prudential PLC cut its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 91.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 221,391 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,265,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Aflac by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,142,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,301,056,000 after acquiring an additional 6,759,169 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $420,078,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 1,184.5% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,264,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $141,199,000 after purchasing an additional 1,165,676 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 132.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,227,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $137,078,000 after purchasing an additional 699,080 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 180.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 252,457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,320,000 after purchasing an additional 565,884 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, EVP Steven Kent Beaver sold 5,508 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.81, for a total value of $648,897.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 40,537 shares in the company, valued at $4,775,663.97. The trade was a 11.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 16,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.19, for a total value of $1,877,597.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,248,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,903,341,784.65. This represents a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 908,146 shares of company stock valued at $103,042,983. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $118.37 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $60.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $113.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $111.80. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $119.81.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The firm’s revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.66 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Barclays set a $99.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Mizuho set a $104.00 target price on Aflac in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Aflac from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.27.

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.