Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Bought by Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 42.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 846,186 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 254,010 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned 0.17% of Aflac worth $92,835,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AFL. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Evergreen Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Navalign LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $130.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Mizuho set a $112.00 price objective on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $110.00 target price (up from $101.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $116.17.

Aflac Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE AFL opened at $125.61 on Friday. 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 fifty-two week low of $96.95 and a fifty-two week high of $125.93. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $118.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $114.19. The stock has a market cap of $63.93 billion, a PE ratio of 14.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.61.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th were paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Aflac's payout ratio is 27.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 12,370 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.54, for a total transaction of $1,441,599.80. Following the sale, the director directly owned 33,310 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,881,947.40. The trade was a 27.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 27,845 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.71, for a total value of $3,249,789.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 744,916 shares of company stock worth $87,118,632 in the last ninety days. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Aflac

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.