Bessemer Group Inc. Has $3.20 Million Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 213.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,349 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $3,195,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in Aflac by 263.2% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 18,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,592,000 after purchasing an additional 13,434 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 1st quarter worth approximately $50,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 36.8% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 426,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,586,000 after purchasing an additional 114,718 shares during the last quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. lifted its holdings in Aflac by 23.3% during the 1st quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 26,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,241,000 after purchasing an additional 4,930 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trustmark National Bank Trust Department raised its holdings in Aflac by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department now owns 24,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,079,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total transaction of $1,957,403.66. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,381,329.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total value of $50,904.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,337,342. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total value of $1,957,403.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,381,329.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Aflac Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE AFL traded up $0.68 during trading on Thursday, reaching $94.82. The company had a trading volume of 218,092 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,190,467. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $89.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.03. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $71.97 and a 12 month high of $95.49. The stock has a market cap of $53.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.39, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 22.08%.

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.