Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC Increases Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC grew its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 272.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,339 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,100 shares during the period. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $879,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NorthRock Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.5% during the first quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $725,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 24.4% during the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 5.0% during the second quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC now owns 2,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $218,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.5% during the first quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 6,653 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $711,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Optas LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 3.5% during the first quarter. Optas LLC now owns 2,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $328,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $111.87 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $107.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.50. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $96.95 and a 12 month high of $115.44.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were given a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 52.61%.

Aflac declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on AFL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $125.00 target price on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $110.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $102,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 25,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,575,019.85. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Company 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.