Rafferty Asset Management LLC Has $18.25 Million Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 176,392 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,523 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $18,246,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AFL shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays boosted their price target on Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Aflac from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.21.

Aflac Trading Up 1.8%

NYSE AFL opened at $105.73 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $57.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $86.46 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $106.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $106.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.01). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total transaction of $3,197,456.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,360,422.98. This represents a 37.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,733,048.59. This trade represents a 3.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 31,802 shares of company stock worth $3,411,877. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.