73,300 Shares in Aflac Incorporated $AFL Bought by Foster & Motley Inc.

Foster & Motley Inc. acquired a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 73,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,594,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Groupe la Francaise acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Evergreen Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 14,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.43, for a total value of $1,712,163.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 50,858,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,175,758,583.70. This represents a 0.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.10, for a total transaction of $74,460.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 32,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,059,311. The trade was a 1.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 523,833 shares of company stock worth $61,339,113 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AFL shares. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $124.00 price objective (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $99.00 price target (up from $98.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Friday, August 7th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 target price (up from $101.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $138.00 price objective (up from $130.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, August 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.58.

Aflac Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $121.74 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $104.66 and a 12-month high of $130.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $61.03 billion, a PE ratio of 13.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a 50-day moving average of $121.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $116.04.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $4.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 26.91%.Aflac’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.78 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. Aflac’s payout ratio is 26.15%.

About Aflac

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.