Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Grows Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

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

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AFL shares. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a "hold" rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of 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, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $102.07.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL traded up $1.11 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $105.90. 1,442,270 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,661,267. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $106.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.12. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $75.07 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The firm has a market cap of $58.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.95, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. This is an increase from Aflac's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac 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.