Brightwater Advisory LLC Acquires New Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Brightwater Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 33,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,015,000. Aflac accounts for 2.1% of Brightwater Advisory LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC now owns 14,836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,224,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth $470,000. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 75,585 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,235,000 after buying an additional 12,450 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 386,538 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,889,000 after buying an additional 8,821 shares during the period. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 93.6% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 6,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $570,000 after buying an additional 3,339 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the company’s 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 owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at $1,796,552.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of AFL stock opened at $112.83 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $105.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a current ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.11 billion, a PE ratio of 12.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.95. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $74.89 and a fifty-two week high of $112.96.

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

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on AFL. Barclays began coverage on Aflac in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Aflac from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.36.

Aflac 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.