Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Invests $48.08 Million in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 464,817 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $48,081,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AFL. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at $948,000. Willis Investment Counsel raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 273,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,287,000 after acquiring an additional 3,357 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 10.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,391,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $155,529,000 after purchasing an additional 127,911 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter worth approximately $192,000. Finally, Apexium Financial LP increased its holdings in Aflac by 56.0% during the 4th quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 3,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,077 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on AFL. UBS Group upped their target price on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.57.

Aflac Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE AFL opened at $103.36 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $86.46 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $106.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $55.88 billion, a PE ratio of 10.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.01). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. The business had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 37.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.25%.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total transaction of $3,906,830.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 70,992 shares in the company, valued at $7,496,045.28. This represents a 34.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total transaction of $107,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,733,048.59. The trade was a 3.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 71,552 shares of company stock valued at $7,609,382 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Company 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.