Janus Henderson Group PLC Boosts Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 24.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 83,709 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 16,497 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $8,661,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in Aflac by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 7,643 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $791,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 6,553 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $662,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Aflac by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 531 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. TKG Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. TKG Advisors LLC now owns 21,255 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,230,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Aflac by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,960 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $720,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $104.57.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE:AFL traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $102.59. The stock had a trading volume of 1,641,470 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,114,526. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $106.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $106.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $86.46 and a one year high of $115.50.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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. The trade was a 37.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,786,791.84. This represents a 3.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 71,552 shares of company stock worth $7,609,382. 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.