Dorato Capital Management Takes Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Dorato Capital Management bought a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 189,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $20,865,000. Aflac accounts for about 15.8% of Dorato Capital Management’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Aflac by 7.6% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,414,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $493,047,000 after purchasing an additional 310,220 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,167,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $439,545,000 after buying an additional 594,971 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,926,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $438,621,000 after buying an additional 13,666 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 2,631,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $297,583,000 after buying an additional 261,547 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Aflac by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,866,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $206,712,000 after buying an additional 97,766 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays set a $101.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $120.00 target price on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $113.00 target price on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Mizuho set a $107.00 price target on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.00.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $110.51 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $111.18 and its 200-day moving average is $110.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.93 billion, a PE ratio of 16.06, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.66. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $119.32.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.45 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.57 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 14,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.03, for a total transaction of $1,519,826.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 52,018,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,567,550,758. This represents a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 15,590 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.93, for a total transaction of $1,713,808.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 62,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,841,713.41. This represents a 20.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 235,077 shares of company stock valued at $25,690,082 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.