Opal Capital LLC Takes Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Opal Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 9,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,081,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Aflac by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,142,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,301,056,000 after buying an additional 6,759,169 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $420,078,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1,184.5% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,264,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $141,199,000 after acquiring an additional 1,165,676 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Aflac by 390.7% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,111,711 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,588,000 after purchasing an additional 885,141 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Aflac by 132.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,227,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $137,078,000 after purchasing an additional 699,080 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Barclays set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Aflac and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Evercore raised Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.27.

Aflac Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE AFL opened at $117.38 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $119.81. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $114.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.74 billion, a PE ratio of 13.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.61.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.66 EPS. Aflac’s revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th were given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 27.70%.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.38, for a total transaction of $18,655,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,723,100 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,641,978. This represents a 0.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,009,956 shares of company stock worth $115,897,719. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.