Danske Bank A S Buys Shares of 345,003 Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFLFree Report) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 345,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $40,452,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AFL. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Groupe la Francaise acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Evergreen Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $99.00 price objective (up from $98.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $108.00 price target (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday. They set an “underperform” rating and a $103.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Mizuho set a $116.00 price objective on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday, August 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $116.62.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Aflac

Aflac Trading Down 4.3%

Shares of AFL stock opened at $116.48 on Thursday. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $104.66 and a 12 month high of $130.22. The company has a market cap of $58.40 billion, a PE ratio of 12.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business’s 50 day moving average is $121.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $116.09.

Aflac (NYSE:AFLGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.01). Aflac had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 26.91%.The firm had revenue of $4.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. Aflac’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 26.15%.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.10, for a total value of $74,460.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 32,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,059,311. This trade represents a 1.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 13,900 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.33, for a total value of $1,686,487.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 50,844,690 shares in the company, valued at $6,168,986,237.70. The trade was a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 507,333 shares of company stock valued at $59,450,256 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AFL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFLFree Report).

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Aflac (NYSE:AFL)

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