Bridgewater Advisors Inc. Purchases New Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Bridgewater Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 3,566 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $387,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 64.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 5,708 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $192,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $439,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in Aflac by 3.3% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Aflac by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 5,629 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.79, for a total transaction of $106,790.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 26,096 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,786,791.84. This represents a 3.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total value of $290,675.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at $711,149.60. This trade represents a 29.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 40,750 shares of company stock valued at $4,304,295 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Aflac Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of AFL stock traded up $0.36 on Friday, hitting $101.78. 4,577,769 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,125,983. The company has a current ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a 50-day moving average of $103.41 and a 200 day moving average of $105.18. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $92.44 and a fifty-two week 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). The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion for 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 firm's quarterly revenue was down 37.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.66 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays set a $98.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $105.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $107.07.

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.