18,128 Shares in Aflac Incorporated $AFL Acquired by Allstate Corp

Allstate Corp acquired a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 18,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,025,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in shares of Aflac by 11.9% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 93,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,856,000 after purchasing an additional 9,907 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Aflac by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,768,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $196,662,000 after buying an additional 65,308 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Aflac by 31.0% during the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 55,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,146,000 after buying an additional 13,017 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 14.5% during the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 222,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,485,000 after purchasing an additional 28,190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its holdings in Aflac by 4.8% in the second quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 140,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,857,000 after purchasing an additional 6,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $110.67.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $109.19 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $96.95 and a twelve month high of $115.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $110.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $107.91. The firm has a market cap of $57.23 billion, a PE ratio of 14.26, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.67.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.72. Aflac had a return on equity of 14.97% and a net margin of 23.55%.The firm had revenue of $4.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.16 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 59.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. Aflac’s payout ratio is 30.29%.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 15,862 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.00, for a total transaction of $1,776,544.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 230,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,837,056. This trade represents a 6.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.00, for a total value of $114,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 23,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,692,110. This represents a 4.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 31,766 shares of company stock valued at $3,549,706. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

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.