Invictus Private Wealth LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Invictus Private Wealth LLC trimmed its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 13.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 504 shares during the period. Invictus Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $348,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the first quarter worth approximately $140,746,000. Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 133.2% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 758,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,329,000 after buying an additional 433,134 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 10.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,575,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $397,510,000 after buying an additional 349,787 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 26.2% in the second quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,654,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,515,000 after buying an additional 343,881 shares during the period. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 96.0% in the first quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 407,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,056,000 after buying an additional 199,583 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $110.78 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.25 billion, a PE ratio of 25.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.86. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $107.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.52. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $96.95 and a 12-month high of $115.44.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%. As a group, analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.61%.

Aflac announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler set a $125.00 price target on Aflac and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Evercore ISI set a $110.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $102.00 price objective (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.45.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $102,570.00. Following the sale, the director owned 25,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Company 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.