Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Bought by Ritholtz Wealth Management

Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 27,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 741 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,939,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its position in Aflac by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 6,846 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $722,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the period. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Aflac by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $763,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the period. Concord Asset Management LLC VA lifted its position in Aflac by 23.3% during the 2nd quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 12,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,324,000 after acquiring an additional 2,369 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Aflac by 21.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,176,000 after acquiring an additional 3,668 shares during the period. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Aflac by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 152,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,088,000 after acquiring an additional 814 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $109.80 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $96.95 and a twelve month high of $115.44. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $108.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.52. The firm has a market cap of $58.73 billion, a PE ratio of 24.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.86.

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

Aflac announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, August 12th that permits the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Piper Sandler set a $125.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective (up previously from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.45.

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.