Danske Bank A S Makes New $40.45 Million Investment in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 345,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $40,452,000. Danske Bank A S owned approximately 0.07% of Aflac at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Aflac by 64.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,507,000 after buying an additional 5,708 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at $280,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 150,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,854,000 after acquiring an additional 15,105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 11,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,261,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Aflac from $117.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $124.00 price target (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Mizuho set a $116.00 price objective on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday, August 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.62.

Aflac Trading Down 4.3%

NYSE AFL opened at $116.48 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $121.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $116.09. 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 Incorporated has a twelve month low of $104.66 and a twelve month high of $130.22. The stock has a market cap of $58.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.48, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.60.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $4.22 billion during 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%. Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.78 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Insider Activity

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.10, for a total transaction of $74,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 32,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,059,311. This trade represents a 1.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 13,900 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.33, for a total value of $1,686,487.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 50,844,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,168,986,237.70. This trade represents a 0.03% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 507,333 shares of company stock valued at $59,450,256. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

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.