Global Assets Advisory LLC Invests $1.51 Million in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 17,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,512,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $197,820,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Aflac by 9.0% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,643,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $740,141,000 after buying an additional 794,784 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Aflac by 1.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,208,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,160,465,000 after acquiring an additional 605,210 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 8,861.1% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 449,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,113,000 after acquiring an additional 444,829 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,693,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $139,676,000 after acquiring an additional 348,400 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $89.18 on Thursday. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $67.12 and a 12 month high of $91.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.67 billion, a PE ratio of 9.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.96. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $86.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.71.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total transaction of $1,957,403.66. Following the transaction, the director now owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,381,329.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $50,904.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,337,342. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total transaction of $1,957,403.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 61,522 shares in the company, valued at $5,381,329.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on AFL. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.38.

Aflac Company 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.