USS Investment Management Ltd Acquires 5,396 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

USS Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 6.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 86,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,396 shares during the period. USS Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Aflac were worth $9,528,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Stephens Inc. AR boosted 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 worth $2,420,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $234,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 19,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,105,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 7,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $902,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Wealth Services Inc. lifted its position in Aflac by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 11,923 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,315,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho set a $104.00 price objective on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Barclays set a $99.00 price target on shares of Aflac and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 12,370 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.54, for a total transaction of $1,441,599.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 33,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,881,947.40. The trade was a 27.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 27,845 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.71, for a total value of $3,249,789.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 50,898,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,940,362,767.90. This trade represents a 0.05% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 1,042,771 shares of company stock valued at $120,575,104 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $118.49 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $116.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $60.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.45, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.61. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $96.95 and a 12 month high of $120.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.09 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

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.