Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Raises Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 132.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 388,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 221,111 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.07% of Aflac worth $42,828,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in Aflac by 10.4% in the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,731,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $193,407,000 after purchasing an additional 163,791 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 126.1% during the third quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 21,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,384,000 after buying an additional 11,903 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 3.8% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,768,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $196,662,000 after buying an additional 65,308 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 97,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,841,000 after buying an additional 10,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 31.0% in the 3rd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 55,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,146,000 after buying an additional 13,017 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $120.00 price target on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, December 15th. Mizuho set a $107.00 price target on Aflac in a research report on Monday, February 9th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $119.00 price objective (up from $110.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.73.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE AFL opened at $107.13 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $111.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $110.34. The company has a market cap of $55.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.66. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $119.32.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.12). Aflac had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The firm had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.57 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 15,590 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.93, for a total value of $1,713,808.70. Following the sale, the director owned 62,237 shares in the company, valued at $6,841,713.41. This represents a 20.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 19,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.96, for a total transaction of $2,141,528.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 52,241,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,796,716,840. This trade represents a 0.04% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 220,877 shares of company stock valued at $24,170,256 over the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.