Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 26.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 74,294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,493 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $6,634,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at $197,820,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 7,001.0% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 667,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $596,000 after purchasing an additional 658,303 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,588,000. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 196.5% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 484,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,945,000 after purchasing an additional 320,867 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Aflac by 6.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,807,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $429,319,000 after buying an additional 285,576 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at $1,796,552.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of AFL stock opened at $108.95 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $61.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.03, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $102.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.57. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $74.89 and a twelve month high of $111.14.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 28.35% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.58 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America raised their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.50.

Aflac 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.