Acadian Asset Management LLC Takes $1.20 Million Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 13,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,202,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Atwood & Palmer Inc. boosted its holdings in Aflac by 80.0% in the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter valued at $29,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter valued at $34,000. Sachetta LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Cedar Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter valued at $50,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,796,552.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Aflac Stock Up 0.6 %

AFL opened at $108.59 on Monday. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $74.89 and a twelve month high of $111.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $101.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.04. The company has a market cap of $60.81 billion, a PE ratio of 11.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.95.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 28.35% and a return on equity of 16.22%. Aflac’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.58 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 22.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $92.50.

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.