Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Acquired by SG Americas Securities LLC

Key Points

• SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its Aflac stake by 163.7% in the first quarter, ending with 395,346 shares worth about $43.4 million.
• Analysts remain mixed on Aflac: the stock has a Hold consensus rating with a consensus price target of $112.27, though several firms recently raised or reiterated positive ratings and targets.
• Aflac reported Q1 earnings of $1.75 per share, missing estimates, but revenue came in at $4.24 billion and rose 27.9% year over year; the company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share.

SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 163.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 395,346 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 245,429 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC owned about 0.08% of Aflac worth $43,373,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 64.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 5,708 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in Aflac in the second quarter valued at approximately $280,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Aflac by 11.2% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 150,334 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $15,854,000 after buying an additional 15,105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 11,953 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,261,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AFL shares. Mizuho set a $104.00 price target on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Evercore upgraded shares of Aflac from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $130.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Aflac from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Barclays set a $99.00 price target on shares of Aflac and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $112.27.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 27,845 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.71, for a total transaction of $3,249,789.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 50,898,490 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,940,362,767.90. This represents a 0.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,070,101 shares of company stock worth $123,501,584. Insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $118.90 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $96.95 and a twelve month high of $119.81. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $115.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.33. The firm has a market cap of $60.52 billion, a PE ratio of 13.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.61.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.66 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.70%.

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.

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