Andra AP fonden Invests $4.18 Million in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Andra AP fonden purchased a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 38,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,177,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its stake in Aflac by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 21,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,420,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 19,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,105,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 7,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $902,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Wealth Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 11,923 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,315,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Price Performance

Aflac stock opened at $123.67 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $118.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $114.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $62.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.61. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $96.95 and a 12-month high of $125.93.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The firm 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 firm posted $1.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th were paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac’s payout ratio is 27.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on AFL. Evercore raised shares of Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Aflac from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $124.00 target price (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $108.00 price target (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Friday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $116.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total value of $7,441,560.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,169,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,044,133,662.20. This trade represents a 0.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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. Insiders have sold 744,916 shares of company stock valued at $87,118,632 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

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.