Diversify Advisory Services LLC Purchases New Shares in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Diversify Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 7,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $920,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AFL. DNB Asset Management AS grew its position in shares of Aflac by 51.3% in the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 168,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,526,000 after purchasing an additional 56,975 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth about $3,743,000. Atlas Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter worth about $1,802,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in Aflac by 77.3% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 63,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,018,000 after buying an additional 27,751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Investment Consultants LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 716.1% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 17,465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,926,000 after buying an additional 15,325 shares in 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, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total value of $7,441,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 51,169,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,044,133,662.20. This represents a 0.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 507,333 shares of company stock worth $59,450,256. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Down 4.3%

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $116.48 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $58.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $121.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.09. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $104.66 and a 1-year high of $130.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 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 company had revenue of $4.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.78 EPS. Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $138.00 price target (up from $130.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $122.00 price target on Aflac and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $99.00 price objective (up from $98.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $124.00 price objective (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. One equities research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.62.

Aflac Company Profile

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.