Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

by · The Cerbat Gem

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL – Free Report) by 535.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 63,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 53,593 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $6,993,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DNB Asset Management AS grew its position in Aflac by 51.3% in the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 168,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,526,000 after acquiring an additional 56,975 shares in the last quarter. BIP Wealth LLC grew its position in Aflac by 348.3% in the fourth quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 55,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,145,000 after acquiring an additional 43,293 shares in the last quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter worth about $3,743,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,866,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $206,712,000 after acquiring an additional 97,766 shares during the period. Finally, Dorato Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at $20,865,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 53,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.74, for a total transaction of $6,240,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 51,014,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,006,474,898.90. The trade was a 0.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,009,956 shares of company stock worth $115,897,719. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Mizuho set a $104.00 target price on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Barclays set a $99.00 target price on shares of Aflac and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.27.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Aflac

Aflac Price Performance

AFL opened at $117.38 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $114.95 and a 200 day moving average of $112.09. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $96.95 and a 52-week high of $119.81. 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 stock has a market cap of $59.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.32, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.61.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. Aflac’s revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.70%.

Aflac Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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