Somerville Kurt F Acquires Shares of 4,300 Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Somerville Kurt F bought a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 4,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $504,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 64.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 5,708 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC grew its position in Aflac by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth about $280,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Aflac by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 150,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,854,000 after buying an additional 15,105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 11,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,261,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $116.48 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $121.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $116.09. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $104.66 and a 1-year high of $130.22. The firm has a market cap of $58.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.60.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.01). Aflac had a net margin of 26.91% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The firm had revenue of $4.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 13,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.33, for a total transaction of $1,686,487.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 50,844,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,168,986,237.70. This represents a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.10, for a total transaction of $74,460.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 32,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,059,311. This represents a 1.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 507,333 shares of company stock worth $59,450,256 over the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Mizuho set a $116.00 price target on Aflac in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $138.00 price objective (up from $130.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Aflac in a research note on Wednesday. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $103.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $116.62.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.