Sepio Capital LP Invests $205,000 in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Sepio Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Sachetta LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on AFL. Raymond James increased their price objective on Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total value of $666,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 32,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,735,635.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total transaction of $666,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,735,635.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $50,904.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,337,342. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,978 shares of company stock worth $3,098,128 in the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Aflac Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of AFL traded up $0.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $87.69. 1,311,085 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,043,957. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The company has a market cap of $49.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $84.57 and its 200-day moving average is $82.68. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $64.10 and a fifty-two week high of $88.59.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 21st. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.08%.

Aflac Profile

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.