SEB Asset Management AB Invests $11.69 Million in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

SEB Asset Management AB acquired a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 106,559 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,691,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 64.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 5,708 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in Aflac in the second quarter valued at about $280,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in Aflac by 11.2% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 150,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,854,000 after buying an additional 15,105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 11,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,261,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total transaction of $7,441,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 51,169,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,044,133,662.20. This trade represents a 0.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 744,916 shares of company stock valued at $87,118,632. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AFL shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Aflac from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $124.00 target price (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Aflac from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $114.50.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL stock opened at $123.98 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $63.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.07, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $118.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $113.83. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $96.95 and a fifty-two week high of $125.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.66 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th were given a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 27.70%.

Aflac Company Profile

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.