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

Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 29.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 405,813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 92,112 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Aflac worth $44,749,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Navalign LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Activest Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC grew its stake 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 worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Aflac

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 stock was sold at an average price of $117.17, for a total value of $3,374,496.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 50,985,935 shares in the company, valued at $5,974,022,003.95. The trade was a 0.06% 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,028,656 shares of company stock valued at $118,187,374. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Aflac Stock Down 0.9%

NYSE:AFL opened at $116.34 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market cap of $59.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.61. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $96.95 and a fifty-two week high of $119.81. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $112.13.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.66 EPS. Analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Aflac from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Evercore raised shares of Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Mizuho set a $104.00 price objective on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, May 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.27.

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.