Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Acquired by Brighton Jones LLC

Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 5.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,491 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Clearbridge Investments LLC bought a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $484,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth about $347,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Aflac by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 530,943 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,803,000 after purchasing an additional 39,846 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Aflac by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 100,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,252,000 after purchasing an additional 12,190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commerce Bank increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 142,988 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,797,000 after acquiring an additional 2,112 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL opened at $107.92 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $102.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.10. The company has a market capitalization of $61.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.95. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $74.89 and a 1-year high of $111.14.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $5.14 billion during 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.58 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 22.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on AFL shares. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. 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 report on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America increased their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,796,552.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.