9,456 Shares in Aflac Incorporated $AFL Bought by Principle Wealth Partners LLC

Principle Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 9,456 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,109,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,142,072 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,301,056,000 after purchasing an additional 6,759,169 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,550,855 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $499,216,000 after buying an additional 67,650 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth $420,078,000. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 22.6% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 3,268,209 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $358,555,000 after purchasing an additional 603,426 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 161.9% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,184,801 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $349,405,000 after purchasing an additional 1,968,738 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total value of $7,441,560.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 51,169,435 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,044,133,662.20. This trade represents a 0.12% decrease in their position. 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 541,333 shares of company stock valued at $63,345,006. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AFL. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $138.00 target price (up from $130.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $117.00 to $116.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Mizuho set a $116.00 target price on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday, August 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $117.58.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $120.95 on Tuesday. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $104.66 and a fifty-two week high of $130.22. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $121.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $115.95. 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 stock has a market cap of $60.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.60.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

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.

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