Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL – Free Report) by 76.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,379 shares during the quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $290,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,142,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,301,056,000 after acquiring an additional 6,759,169 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Aflac by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,483,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $494,385,000 after purchasing an additional 69,025 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $420,078,000. Amundi raised its position in Aflac by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,664,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $293,846,000 after purchasing an additional 32,907 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 36.8% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,125,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $234,340,000 after purchasing an additional 571,793 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research firms have recently weighed in on AFL. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Evercore upgraded shares of Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $115.50.
Aflac Trading Down 0.6%
Shares of AFL stock opened at $123.34 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $96.95 and a 1-year high of $125.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $62.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.00, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $118.14 and a 200-day moving average of $113.92.
Aflac (NYSE:AFL – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.66 earnings per share. Aflac’s revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current year.
Aflac Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were given a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 27.70%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 12,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.54, for a total value of $1,441,599.80. Following the sale, the director directly owned 33,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,881,947.40. This represents a 27.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 27,845 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.71, for a total transaction of $3,249,789.95. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 50,898,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,940,362,767.90. This represents a 0.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 744,916 shares of company stock worth $87,118,632. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.
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.
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