Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Makes New $13.19 Million Investment in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 112,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,186,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Stephens Inc. AR grew its position in shares of Aflac by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 21,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,420,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Compound Planning Inc. increased its stake in Aflac by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 13,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,508,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in Aflac by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $234,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its holdings in Aflac by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 19,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,105,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 7,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $902,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Aflac from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $108.00 price target (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Friday, July 10th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price target (up from $101.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $138.00 price objective (up from $130.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.62.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.10, for a total value of $74,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 32,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,059,311. This trade represents a 1.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 13,900 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.33, for a total value of $1,686,487.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 50,844,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,168,986,237.70. This represents a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 507,333 shares of company stock worth $59,450,256 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

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

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.01). Aflac had a net margin of 26.91% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The firm had revenue of $4.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

Aflac Company 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.