Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Purchased by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,220,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 117,504 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.39% of Aflac worth $198,279,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 7,001.0% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 667,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $596,000 after purchasing an additional 658,303 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,588,000. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in Aflac by 196.5% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 484,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,945,000 after purchasing an additional 320,867 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Aflac by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,807,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $429,319,000 after purchasing an additional 285,576 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Aflac by 27.6% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,243,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $111,029,000 after purchasing an additional 268,694 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $107.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.10. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $74.89 and a 12 month high of $111.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $102.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.96. The company has a market cap of $61.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.91, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.95.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.23. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. The company had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.58 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Aflac from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Bank of America boosted their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total transaction of $197,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,796,552.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.