Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 643,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,244 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $71,964,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,807,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $429,319,000 after purchasing an additional 285,576 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 6.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,694,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $524,846,000 after buying an additional 281,148 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its holdings in Aflac by 1.3% in the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 2,429,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $202,437,000 after buying an additional 31,752 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD boosted its position in Aflac by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,276,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $254,382,000 after acquiring an additional 83,289 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,220,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $198,279,000 after acquiring an additional 117,504 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $102.69 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $75.07 and a 1 year high of $115.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $109.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.32. The company has a market cap of $57.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.47, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America lifted their price target on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.73.

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.