Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Takes Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $683,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $22,109,000. MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH purchased a new position in Aflac during the second quarter worth $242,000. Triton Financial Group Inc purchased a new position in Aflac during the second quarter worth $2,042,000. Redwood Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the second quarter worth $1,164,000. Finally, Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the second quarter worth $117,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on AFL shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $124.00 target price (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $108.00 target price (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Friday, July 10th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $138.00 price target (up from $130.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price target (up from $101.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $116.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total value of $7,441,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 51,169,435 shares in the company, valued at $6,044,133,662.20. This represents a 0.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 509,215 shares of company stock worth $59,871,461. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of AFL opened at $116.02 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.60. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $104.66 and a twelve month high of $130.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $121.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.23.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $4.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 26.91%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Aflac 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.