Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. Grows Stake in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 354,721 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,738 shares during the quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. owned approximately 0.07% of Aflac worth $37,409,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. NorthRock Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $725,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC now owns 2,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $218,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc grew its stake in Aflac by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 3,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Apexium Financial LP increased its position in Aflac by 3.4% during the first quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 3,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $345,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 2.5% in the second quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $465,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $114.27 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.83. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $115.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $109.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 18th. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 30.29%.

Aflac announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 12th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $104.00 target price (up from $102.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, EVP Frederic Jean Guy Simard sold 1,722 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $193,725.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 1,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $153,450. This represents a 55.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.00, for a total value of $114,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 23,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,692,110. This trade represents a 4.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, provides supplemental health and life insurance products. The company operates through Aflac Japan and Aflac U.S. segments. The Aflac Japan segment offers cancer, medical, nursing care, work leave, GIFT, and whole and term life insurance products, as well as WAYS and child endowment plans under saving type insurance products in Japan.