Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Purchases 15,561 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 28.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 69,695 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 15,561 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $7,641,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Independent Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the first quarter worth $770,000. Evergreen Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in Aflac by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 68,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,472,000 after purchasing an additional 4,463 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the first quarter worth $88,000. Finally, MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH bought a new stake in Aflac during the first quarter valued at $227,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on AFL shares. Evercore raised Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $108.00 price objective (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Aflac from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 target price (up from $101.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.17.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL opened at $124.36 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.12, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.61. 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 Incorporated has a 12-month low of $96.95 and a 12-month high of $125.93. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $118.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $114.11.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.66 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.70%.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 27,845 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.71, for a total transaction of $3,249,789.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 50,898,490 shares in the company, valued at $5,940,362,767.90. This represents a 0.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 12,370 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.54, for a total value of $1,441,599.80. Following the sale, the director directly owned 33,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,881,947.40. This trade represents a 27.08% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 744,916 shares of company stock valued at $87,118,632. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.