EdgeRock Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $78,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hyman Charles D boosted its position in Aflac by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Hyman Charles D now owns 247,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,445 shares during the period. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. bought a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter worth $423,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Aflac by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,190,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $263,254,000 after acquiring an additional 17,892 shares during the last quarter. Petix & Botte Co bought a new stake in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at about $874,000. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Aflac by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 66,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,511,000 after purchasing an additional 7,226 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,390.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total transaction of $666,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,825 shares in the company, valued at $2,735,635.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Aflac stock traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $84.68. 2,252,973 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,304,435. The company has a market capitalization of $48.12 billion, a PE ratio of 9.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a fifty day moving average of $83.33 and a 200 day moving average of $81.99. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $64.10 and a 1-year high of $86.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 22.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.31.

About Aflac

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.