Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $57.57 Million Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 670.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 556,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 484,378 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.10% of Aflac worth $57,572,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 2.5% in the second quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 9,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $879,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its stake in Aflac by 55.8% in the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 5,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $492,000 after acquiring an additional 1,974 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth about $10,878,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,724,000. Finally, SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 23.5% in the 2nd quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 53,365 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,766,000 after purchasing an additional 10,156 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Stock Up 1.1 %

AFL opened at $104.80 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $58.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $106.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.12. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $75.07 and a twelve month high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a $0.58 dividend. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFL has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.07.

Aflac Company 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.