Raiffeisen Bank International AG Buys Shares of 7,603 Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 7,603 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $783,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total value of $290,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $711,149.60. This trade represents a 29.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total transaction of $107,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,733,048.59. The trade was a 3.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 34,552 shares of company stock valued at $3,702,552. Insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AFL. Barclays increased their price target on Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. StockNews.com cut Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday. Three investment 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 stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $104.57.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of Aflac stock traded down $0.91 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $105.52. 1,868,335 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,111,138. The company has a market capitalization of $57.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $107.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $106.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $86.46 and a 52-week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.53 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 37.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac's payout ratio is 36.25%.

Aflac Company 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.