Aflac Incorporated $AFL Stock Position Lifted by Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd

Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 161.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,200 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,819,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Stephens Inc. AR grew its stake in shares of 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. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its holdings 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 during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. lifted 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 period. Sigma Planning Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 9,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,088,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 2,939 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $324,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 1,740 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.57, for a total transaction of $202,831.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 13,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,540,938.83. This represents a 11.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 31,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.66, for a total value of $3,718,056.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 51,393,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,046,905,674.70. This represents a 0.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 814,028 shares of company stock valued at $91,815,931 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Aflac from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group cut their price objective on Aflac from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.82.

Aflac Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $117.78 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $96.95 and a fifty-two week high of $119.81. The firm has a market cap of $59.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.62. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $112.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $111.65.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.70%.

Aflac Company Profile

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.