Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Has $5.74 Million Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Generali Asset Management boosted its Aflac stake by 50.9% in the fourth quarter, ending with 52,018 shares valued at about $5.74 million.
• Aflac reported quarterly EPS of $1.75, missing estimates by $0.05, while revenue came in at $4.24 billion, slightly above expectations and up 27.9% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share and analysts currently have a consensus rating of Hold with an average price target of $111.36.

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR increased its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 50.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 52,018 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 17,555 shares during the quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR's holdings in Aflac were worth $5,736,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AFL. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its position in Aflac by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 19,088 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,105,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 11,923 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,315,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 9,831 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,088,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Courier Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 3.9% in the third quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 2,597 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Corp lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 2,939 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider owned 51,723,100 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,641,978. This represents a 0.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 572,875 shares of company stock worth $63,542,458 over the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $112.98 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $111.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $110.96. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $119.32. The stock has a market cap of $57.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.62. 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 (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.12 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac's payout ratio is 27.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AFL. Evercore raised shares of Aflac from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Aflac from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays set a $99.00 target price on Aflac and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Mizuho set a $104.00 price target on Aflac in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $111.36.

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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