Renaissance Technologies LLC Raises Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 382.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 667,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 529,200 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 0.13% of Aflac worth $73,253,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Evergreen Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the first quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Navalign LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $108.00 price objective (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Barclays lowered their target price on Aflac from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Evercore upgraded Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Mizuho set a $112.00 price target on Aflac in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $116.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 12,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.54, for a total transaction of $1,441,599.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 33,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,881,947.40. This trade represents a 27.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 27,845 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.71, for a total value of $3,249,789.95. Following the sale, the insider owned 50,898,490 shares in the company, valued at $5,940,362,767.90. This trade represents a 0.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 744,916 shares of company stock worth $87,118,632 over the last quarter. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Aflac Trading Up 1.0%

AFL opened at $125.61 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $125.93. The company has a market cap of $63.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.26, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $118.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $114.19.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.70%.

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.