Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Has $10.01 Million Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 221.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 112,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 77,237 shares during the quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $10,008,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in Aflac during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 80.0% during the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in Aflac during the first quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the second quarter worth $54,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,796,552.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $110.07 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $74.89 and a 12 month high of $111.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $103.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $62.54 billion, a PE ratio of 12.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.95.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.23. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. The company had revenue of $5.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.58 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the topic of several research reports. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.36.

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.