Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Invests $1.12 Million in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 10,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,117,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 11.9% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 93,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,856,000 after purchasing an additional 9,907 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Aflac by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,768,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $196,662,000 after buying an additional 65,308 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its stake in Aflac by 31.0% during the 3rd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 55,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,146,000 after buying an additional 13,017 shares during the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its position in Aflac by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 140,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,857,000 after buying an additional 6,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Aflac by 8.2% in the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,652,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $174,273,000 after buying an additional 124,706 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays set a $101.00 price target on Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Aflac from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 15,862 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.00, for a total value of $1,776,544.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 230,688 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,837,056. This represents a 6.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.00, for a total transaction of $114,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 23,615 shares in the company, valued at $2,692,110. The trade was a 4.06% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 31,766 shares of company stock valued at $3,549,706. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $107.08 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $56.12 billion, a PE ratio of 13.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $109.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.98. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $115.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.72. The company had revenue of $4.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 14.97% and a net margin of 23.55%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 59.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.16 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.29%.

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.