Ameriprise Financial Inc. Increases Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 890,901 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 8,629 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.16% of Aflac worth $92,156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth approximately $349,699,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth $163,409,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 22.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,296,014 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $754,700,000 after acquiring an additional 1,357,753 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 81.1% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,753,513 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $285,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,232,683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,340,298 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,310,640,000 after acquiring an additional 653,275 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE AFL traded down $0.29 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $105.28. 1,975,751 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,106,268. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $107.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $106.56. The company has a market cap of $56.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $85.50 and a 1-year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.01). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. The company had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 37.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays upped their price target on Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $111.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $104.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.79, for a total value of $106,790.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 26,096 shares in the company, valued at $2,786,791.84. This trade represents a 3.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total transaction of $3,197,456.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 49,962 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,360,422.98. This trade represents a 37.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,802 shares of company stock valued at $3,411,877. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

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.