Man Group plc Decreases Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Man Group plc reduced its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 18.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 233,766 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 52,751 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc's holdings in Aflac were worth $24,181,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $948,000. Willis Investment Counsel grew its holdings in Aflac by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 273,466 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $28,287,000 after purchasing an additional 3,357 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 10.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,391,127 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $155,529,000 after buying an additional 127,911 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 71.5% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 41,668 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,310,000 after buying an additional 17,375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Flywheel Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth about $280,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 49,962 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,360,422.98. This represents a 37.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.79, for a total transaction of $106,790.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,786,791.84. This trade represents a 3.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 31,802 shares of company stock worth $3,411,877. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Aflac Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of AFL stock opened at $105.73 on Friday. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $106.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.51. 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 1-year low of $86.46 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The firm has a market cap of $57.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.01, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.01). The company 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%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 37.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be given a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a "market perform" rating and a $111.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com lowered Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $104.21.

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.

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