Aflac Incorporated $AFL Holdings Raised by Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd

Key Points

• Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd increased its Aflac stake by 161.9% in the fourth quarter, buying 10,200 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 16,500 shares worth about $1.82 million.
• Other institutional investors also added to positions, and 67.44% of Aflac’s stock is owned by institutions. However, insiders sold 814,028 shares over the last 90 days, including a recent sale by Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan.
• Aflac reported quarterly EPS of $1.75, missing Wall Street expectations, though revenue came in above estimates at $4.24 billion. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, yielding about 2.1% annually.

Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd grew its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 161.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,500 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring 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 Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Stephens Inc. AR increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 21,945 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,420,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 19,088 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,105,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 11,923 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,315,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 9,831 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,088,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 2,939 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.38, for a total value of $18,655,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 51,723,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,812,641,978. This represents a 0.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Aflac from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Evercore upgraded Aflac from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Aflac from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Barclays set a $99.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $111.82.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $117.78 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $59.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.37, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $112.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $111.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $96.95 and a 12 month high of $119.81.

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

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

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