Ruggaard & Associates LLC Takes Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Ruggaard & Associates LLC purchased a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $932,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its holdings in Aflac by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 21,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,420,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Compound Planning Inc. grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 13,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,508,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its position in shares of Aflac by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 19,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,105,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 7,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $902,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total value of $7,441,560.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 51,169,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,044,133,662.20. The trade was a 0.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 502,125 shares of company stock worth $58,965,806 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $124.00 price objective (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $122.00 target price on shares of Aflac and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $138.00 price target (up from $130.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $99.00 price objective (up from $98.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Friday, August 7th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.62.

Aflac Stock Down 0.9%

NYSE AFL opened at $116.45 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $121.60 and its 200 day moving average is $116.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $104.66 and a 12 month high of $130.22. The stock has a market cap of $58.38 billion, a PE ratio of 12.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.60.

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). Aflac had a net margin of 26.91% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The company had revenue of $4.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Aflac 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.