Mackenzie Financial Corp Lowers Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Mackenzie Financial Corp lowered its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 63,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 813 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp’s holdings in Aflac were worth $5,670,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AFL. MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,418,000. APG Asset Management N.V. raised its stake in Aflac by 1.3% during the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 2,429,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $202,437,000 after buying an additional 31,752 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. boosted its holdings in Aflac by 12.0% in the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 157,939 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,106,000 after acquiring an additional 16,924 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 29.3% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 18,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,649,000 after acquiring an additional 4,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Insigneo Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 7.9% during the second quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $682,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Up 1.1 %

AFL opened at $111.80 on Tuesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $74.89 and a 1-year high of $112.10. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.18. 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 company has a market capitalization of $63.53 billion, a PE ratio of 12.34, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.95.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.23. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. The business 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 company posted $1.58 earnings per share. Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.75 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s payout ratio is 22.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AFL shares. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group increased their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total transaction of $197,880.00. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

About Aflac

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.