Bayesian Capital Management LP Buys New Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 3,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $270,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eudaimonia Partners LLC raised its position in Aflac by 234.6% during the fourth quarter. Eudaimonia Partners LLC now owns 10,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $862,000 after acquiring an additional 7,325 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in Aflac by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 86,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,096,000 after acquiring an additional 15,855 shares during the period. Southeast Asset Advisors Inc. raised its position in Aflac by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors Inc. now owns 139,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,481,000 after acquiring an additional 589 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Aflac by 6.7% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,806,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $155,140,000 after acquiring an additional 113,226 shares during the period. Finally, Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. acquired a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth $12,546,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AFL shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.46.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total transaction of $1,957,403.66. Following the sale, the director now owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,381,329.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total transaction of $1,957,403.66. Following the sale, the director now owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,381,329.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $50,904.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,337,342. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of AFL stock opened at $95.34 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market cap of $54.17 billion, a PE ratio of 10.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50-day moving average of $90.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.47. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $71.97 and a 1-year high of $96.23.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion during 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%. Aflac’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.44 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.08%.

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.