IFM Investors Pty Ltd Purchases 10,511 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 9.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 123,144 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,511 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in Aflac were worth $13,767,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 121.9% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.79, for a total transaction of $106,790.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 26,096 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,786,791.84. The trade was a 3.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director directly owned 6,728 shares in the company, valued at $711,149.60. The trade was a 29.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 40,750 shares of company stock valued at $4,304,295 over the last ninety days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Aflac Trading Down 1.6%

NYSE AFL traded down $1.69 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $102.88. 1,667,584 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,150,410. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $104.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $88.00 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The stock has a market cap of $55.62 billion, a PE ratio of 16.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.81.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last issued 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 15.55% and a net margin of 21.27%. The company had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.66 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. Aflac's payout ratio is currently 36.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Barclays set a $98.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Three investment 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.com, Aflac has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $106.64.

Aflac Company 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.