2,955 Shares in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Purchased by SageView Advisory Group LLC

SageView Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 2,955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $253,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $197,820,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Aflac by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,643,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $740,141,000 after purchasing an additional 794,784 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Aflac by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,208,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,160,465,000 after purchasing an additional 605,210 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Aflac by 8,861.1% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 449,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,113,000 after purchasing an additional 444,829 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Aflac by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,295,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $559,953,000 after purchasing an additional 368,704 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL stock opened at $89.75 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $85.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.53. The stock has a market cap of $51.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.96. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $66.58 and a 1 year high of $90.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 21st. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 22.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total transaction of $1,957,403.66. Following the sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Aflac news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total transaction of $1,957,403.66. Following the sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $50,904.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,550 shares in the company, valued at $2,337,342. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.38.

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.