Mackenzie Financial Corp Buys 9,650 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 16.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 69,561 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 9,650 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp's holdings in Aflac were worth $7,195,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total value of $3,906,830.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 70,992 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,496,045.28. This represents a 34.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,393 shares in the company, valued at $2,733,048.59. This trade represents a 3.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 71,552 shares of company stock valued at $7,609,382. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $104.93.

Aflac Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE AFL traded up $0.68 during trading on Friday, hitting $103.49. 3,415,441 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,120,699. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.78, 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 quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $86.46 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The business's fifty day moving average is $106.27 and its 200 day moving average is $106.26.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. 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.