QRG Capital Management Inc. Increases Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 5.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 95,778 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,670 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $10,508,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Navalign LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in Aflac by 95.6% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Mizuho set a $104.00 price objective on Aflac in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.27.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $120.73 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $96.95 and a 1-year high of $120.88. The stock has a market cap of $61.45 billion, a PE ratio of 13.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $116.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $112.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The business’s revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.66 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.09 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 27.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider directly owned 51,723,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,812,641,978. The trade was a 0.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 1,042,771 shares of company stock worth $120,575,104 in the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.