Madison Asset Management LLC Has $367,000 Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Madison Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 65.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,190 shares during the period. Madison Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $367,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Activest Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 95.6% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Aflac

Here are the key news stories impacting Aflac this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Aflac issued $500 million of 5.150% senior notes due 2036, a move that can support liquidity and provide flexibility for capital management. Aflac Issues $500 Million 2036 Senior Notes Offering
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary remains constructive overall, highlighting strong sales growth in Japan and the U.S., improving Japan margins, and a lower benefit ratio, which supports the case for continued earnings resilience. Here’s Why You Should Keep Holding Aflac in Your Portfolio
• Neutral Sentiment: The company’s recent earnings were mixed: revenue beat expectations, but EPS missed estimates, leaving investors focused on whether growth can offset margin pressure and valuation concerns.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles questioned Aflac’s valuation and risk profile after softer Japan margins and the earnings miss, but these pieces did not indicate a new fundamental setback beyond what was already known.
• Negative Sentiment: Major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan disclosed another small sale of Aflac shares under a pre-arranged trading plan, adding to recent insider selling that can weigh on sentiment. Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Major Shareholder Sells $2,767,885.00 in Stock

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Miwako Hosoda sold 243 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.50, for a total value of $27,823.50. Following the sale, the director owned 7,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $886,573.50. The trade was a 3.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 24,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.97, for a total value of $2,818,071.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 51,588,545 shares in the company, valued at $5,982,723,563.65. This trade represents a 0.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 621,875 shares of company stock worth $69,196,652. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Aflac from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings cut Aflac from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Aflac from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.36.

Aflac Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE AFL opened at $116.26 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $111.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $111.22. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $96.95 and a 12 month high of $119.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.17 billion, a PE ratio of 13.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.66 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.12 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be 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 is Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac’s payout ratio is 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.