SteelPeak Wealth LLC Has $2.10 Million Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

SteelPeak Wealth LLC raised its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,496 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 651 shares during the period. SteelPeak Wealth LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,103,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at $197,820,000. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 794,784 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 1.1% in 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 period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 8,861.1% in the fourth 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 boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 25.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,693,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $139,676,000 after acquiring an additional 348,400 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,381,329.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Aflac news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 61,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,381,329.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total value of $50,904.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,550 shares in the company, valued at $2,337,342. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Aflac stock opened at $89.31 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $87.03 and a 200-day moving average of $83.82. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $68.34 and a 1 year 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 company has a market capitalization of $50.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.96.

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

Aflac Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AFL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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, StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.46.

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.