Prudential PLC Sells 221,391 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Prudential PLC decreased its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 91.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 221,391 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Stephens Inc. AR grew its stake in Aflac by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 21,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,420,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its position in shares of Aflac by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 19,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,105,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 7,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $902,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Wealth Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 11,923 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,315,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.38, for a total value of $18,655,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 51,723,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,812,641,978. This trade represents a 0.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 908,146 shares of company stock worth $103,042,983 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays set a $99.00 target price on Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Evercore upgraded shares of Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.27.

Aflac Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE:AFL opened at $118.37 on Monday. The stock 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. The company has a market cap of $60.25 billion, a PE 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.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.66 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were given a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 27.70%.

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.