3,566 Shares in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Bought by Bridgewater Advisors Inc.

Bridgewater Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,566 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $387,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 64.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 5,708 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $192,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $439,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its position in Aflac by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 27,717 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,867,000 after purchasing an additional 876 shares during the period. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its position in Aflac by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 5,629 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $582,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $105.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $107.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.79, for a total value of $106,790.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 26,096 shares in the company, valued at $2,786,791.84. This trade represents a 3.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total value of $290,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,728 shares in the company, valued at $711,149.60. This represents a 29.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 40,750 shares of company stock worth $4,304,295. Insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Aflac stock traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $101.78. The stock had a trading volume of 4,577,769 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,153,065. The company has a 50-day moving average of $103.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $105.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $55.03 billion, a PE ratio of 15.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.81. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $93.00 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 21.27%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 37.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.66 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were given a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. Aflac's payout ratio is 36.25%.

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.