Gotham Asset Management LLC Buys 92,112 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 29.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 405,813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 92,112 shares during the quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $44,749,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Navalign LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Activest Wealth Management increased its position in Aflac by 95.6% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 80.6% in the fourth quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC now owns 354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $116.34 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $59.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.21, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $115.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $112.13. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $119.81.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.66 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on AFL. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Barclays set a $99.00 target price on shares of Aflac and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.27.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 28,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.17, for a total value of $3,374,496.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 50,985,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,974,022,003.95. The trade was a 0.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 1,028,656 shares of company stock worth $118,187,374 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

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.