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

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR lifted its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 50.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. 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 filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Aflac by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,142,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,301,056,000 after buying an additional 6,759,169 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Aflac by 1,184.5% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,264,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $141,199,000 after acquiring an additional 1,165,676 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 132.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,227,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $137,078,000 after acquiring an additional 699,080 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 180.5% during the third quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 252,457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,320,000 after acquiring an additional 565,884 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP grew its position in shares of Aflac by 402.9% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 653,853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,035,000 after purchasing an additional 523,845 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. Barclays set a $99.00 target price on Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Evercore upgraded Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Mizuho set a $104.00 target price on Aflac in a report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Aflac from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.36.

Aflac Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE AFL opened at $112.98 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $57.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.82, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a 50 day moving average of $111.42 and a 200-day moving average of $110.96. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $96.95 and a 1-year high of $119.32.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The company had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.66 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 27.70%.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 51,723,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,812,641,978. The trade was a 0.32% 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. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 572,875 shares of company stock valued at $63,542,458 in the last quarter. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Aflac Company 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.