DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Increases Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 16.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 438,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 62,491 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned about 0.08% of Aflac worth $37,427,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atwood & Palmer Inc. grew its holdings in Aflac by 80.0% during the 1st quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total value of $50,904.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,337,342. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total value of $50,904.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,337,342. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total value of $1,957,403.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares in the company, valued at $5,381,329.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on AFL. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.08.

Aflac Trading Down 2.4 %

AFL stock traded down $2.41 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $99.24. The company had a trading volume of 3,471,909 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,218,089. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $72.78 and a 52 week high of $104.90. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $90.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.72. The stock has a market cap of $56.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.95, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.95.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.58 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.08%.

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.