American Century Companies Inc. Grows Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 8.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 194,502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,843 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $20,512,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 64.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 5,708 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Aflac by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its position in Aflac by 15.5% during the first quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 6,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $723,000 after buying an additional 871 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 20.4% in the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 2,536 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Argent Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.8% in the first quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 11,085 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,233,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Frederic Jean Guy Simard sold 1,722 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $193,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 1,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $153,450. This represents a 55.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 786 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were 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. The trade was 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 worth $2,571,002 over the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

Aflac stock opened at $109.55 on Tuesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $115.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $110.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.32. The company has a market cap of $57.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.84, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.83.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share 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. Sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on AFL shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.00.

Aflac 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.