Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Purchases Shares of 112,459 Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 112,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,186,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. one8zero8 LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $594,000. West Family Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the second quarter valued at $214,000. Tacita Capital Inc acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the second quarter valued at $45,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the second quarter worth $3,576,000. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at $474,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $116.48 on Thursday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $104.66 and a 1 year high of $130.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $121.59 and a 200-day moving average of $116.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.60.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $4.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 26.91%.The firm’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AFL. Mizuho set a $116.00 target price on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday, August 10th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $124.00 price target (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $138.00 price objective (up from $130.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, August 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.62.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total value of $7,441,560.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,169,435 shares in the company, valued at $6,044,133,662.20. This represents a 0.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 507,333 shares of company stock worth $59,450,256. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

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.