Versor Investments LP Takes Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 9,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,012,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Activest Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Aflac by 95.6% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Aflac by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. JCIC Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $116.20 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $119.32. The firm has a market cap of $59.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $111.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $111.10. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.66 earnings per share. Aflac’s revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be issued a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.38, for a total value of $18,655,080.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,723,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,812,641,978. This trade represents a 0.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 573,475 shares of company stock valued at $63,610,696. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AFL. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Evercore raised shares of Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Mizuho set a $104.00 price objective on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, May 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.36.

Aflac Profile

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.