Clearbridge Investments LLC Takes $484,000 Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Clearbridge Investments LLC bought a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 5,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $484,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC raised its position in Aflac by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 5,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 1,484 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Aflac by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 64,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,313,000 after purchasing an additional 2,357 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its position in Aflac by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 85,955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,091,000 after purchasing an additional 17,313 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $197,820,000. Finally, Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Aflac by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $668,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total transaction of $666,720.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,735,635.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total value of $666,720.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,825 shares in the company, valued at $2,735,635.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 35,978 shares of company stock worth $3,098,128. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on 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 upped their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.38.

Aflac Stock Performance

Aflac stock opened at $87.69 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market capitalization of $49.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.68, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $84.57 and its 200 day moving average is $82.70. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $64.10 and a twelve month high of $88.59.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. The firm’s quarterly 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 fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.08%.

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.