Symmetry Investments LP Raises Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Symmetry Investments LP lifted its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 147.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,860 shares during the quarter. Symmetry Investments LP’s holdings in Aflac were worth $729,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 7,001.0% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 667,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $596,000 after buying an additional 658,303 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter worth $27,588,000. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its stake in Aflac by 196.5% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 484,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,945,000 after acquiring an additional 320,867 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Aflac by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,807,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $429,319,000 after acquiring an additional 285,576 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Aflac by 27.6% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,243,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $111,029,000 after purchasing an additional 268,694 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 is available at this link. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.50.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $107.89 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $74.89 and a 52 week high of $111.14. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $102.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.31 billion, a PE ratio of 11.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.95.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted 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. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. The business had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.58 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s payout ratio is 22.08%.

About Aflac

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.