Prudential Financial Inc. Grows Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Prudential Financial Inc. increased its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 320,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,743 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.06% of Aflac worth $33,769,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vestor Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,964,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Aflac by 8.3% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 194,502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,512,000 after purchasing an additional 14,843 shares during the period. Private Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in Aflac by 2,209.0% in the second quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 41,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,422,000 after purchasing an additional 40,116 shares during the period. AGP Franklin LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.8% during the second quarter. AGP Franklin LLC now owns 16,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,766,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 108.5% during the second quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 517 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 15,862 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.00, for a total transaction of $1,776,544.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 230,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,837,056. This represents a 6.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 786 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.75, for a total transaction of $89,407.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 24,829 shares in the company, valued at $2,824,298.75. This trade represents a 3.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 22,822 shares of company stock valued at $2,571,002 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler set a $125.00 price target on Aflac and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Aflac from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.00.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $110.19 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $110.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $106.13. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $115.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.75 billion, a PE ratio of 24.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.83.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.85%.

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.