Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Lowers Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 75.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 95,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 292,499 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $10,521,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Navalign LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management lifted its position in Aflac by 95.6% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on AFL. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings raised Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Evercore raised Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Mizuho set a $104.00 target price on Aflac in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 12,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.54, for a total transaction of $1,441,599.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 33,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,881,947.40. This represents a 27.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 27,845 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.71, for a total transaction of $3,249,789.95. Following the sale, the insider owned 50,898,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,940,362,767.90. This trade represents a 0.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 1,082,471 shares of company stock valued at $124,943,184 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Up 1.5%

NYSE:AFL opened at $120.04 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $61.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.61. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $120.27. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $112.50. 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 (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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