Invst LLC Makes New Investment in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Invst LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 7,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $902,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Groupe la Francaise purchased a new position in Aflac in the first quarter worth $25,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Down 1.7%

AFL stock opened at $116.17 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $121.56 and a 200-day moving average of $116.21. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $104.66 and a fifty-two week high of $130.22. The company has a market capitalization of $58.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.45, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $4.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 26.91% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The company’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 26.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.10, for a total transaction of $74,460.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 32,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,059,311. This represents a 1.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 12,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.28, for a total transaction of $1,500,012.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 50,791,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,906,069,341.20. This trade represents a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 494,225 shares of company stock worth $57,960,715 over the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AFL. Wells Fargo & Company set a $122.00 price target on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $138.00 target price (up from $130.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $108.00 target price (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.62.

Aflac Company Profile

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.