Renaissance Technologies LLC Grows Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 382.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 667,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 529,200 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $73,253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Evergreen Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Navalign LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on AFL. Weiss Ratings upgraded Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $108.00 price target (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Aflac from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $124.00 price objective (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $116.17.

Aflac Stock Up 1.0%

AFL opened at $125.61 on Friday. 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 Incorporated has a 12 month low of $96.95 and a 12 month high of $125.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $118.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $114.19.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.66 EPS. Aflac’s revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 27,845 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.71, for a total value of $3,249,789.95. Following the sale, the insider owned 50,898,490 shares in the company, valued at $5,940,362,767.90. This represents a 0.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 12,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.54, for a total value of $1,441,599.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 33,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,881,947.40. The trade was a 27.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 744,916 shares of company stock valued at $87,118,632. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac 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.