GSA Capital Partners LLP Acquires New Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $631,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in Aflac in the first quarter valued at approximately $253,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 8.7% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 10,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,000 after buying an additional 825 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 3.3% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 13,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,129,000 after buying an additional 421 shares during the last quarter. Adapt Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth $487,000. Finally, FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 3.5% during the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 61,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,250,000 after buying an additional 2,066 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL stock opened at $92.64 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $52.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.23, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $69.00 and a 12-month high of $93.08. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.40.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 16.88%. Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.15.

Insider Activity

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

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.