Gotham Asset Management LLC Buys 14,218 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 9.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 169,428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 14,218 shares during the quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $17,526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AFL shares. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Aflac in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Aflac from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.21.

Aflac Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $105.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $107.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $106.63. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $85.50 and a 1 year high of $115.50. The company has a market capitalization of $57.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total transaction of $107,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,733,048.59. This trade represents a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Aflac 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.