Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. reduced its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL – Free Report) by 75.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,912 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $175,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new position in Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,069,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the third quarter worth about $699,000. Krilogy Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 11.8% in the third quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 4,940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $573,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Jericho Financial LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.4% in the third quarter. Jericho Financial LLP now owns 58,409 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,529,000 after purchasing an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sax Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 73.6% in the third quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,491 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $726,000 after purchasing an additional 2,752 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.49, for a total value of $2,369,800.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 50,667,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,003,614,588.10. This trade represents a 0.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 503,051 shares of company stock worth $58,491,257 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.
Key Stories Impacting Aflac
- Positive Sentiment: Bank of America maintained a Buy rating while lowering its price target from $137 to $133. The target still indicates substantial potential upside and provides a supportive signal for the stock. Bank of America Aflac price target
- Positive Sentiment: Aflac’s latest WorkForces Report found that employees remain financially vulnerable and increasingly need help understanding workplace benefits. The findings may support demand for Aflac’s supplemental health and life insurance products over the longer term. Aflac WorkForces Report
- Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains mixed. KBW reaffirmed a Hold rating, while the broader analyst consensus is also Hold, suggesting investors view Aflac as relatively fairly valued near current levels. KBW Aflac rating
- Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo reduced its price target from $122 to $116 and maintained an Equal Weight rating. The target near recent trading levels points to limited near-term upside and may cap investor enthusiasm. Wells Fargo Aflac price target
- Negative Sentiment: Japan Post Holdings, Aflac’s major shareholder, disclosed several small stock sales, including 12,200 shares on October 12 and 12,000 shares on October 9. The transactions were made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan and reduced its ownership by only about 0.02% each, so the direct financial impact is limited, but the repeated selling creates a modest overhang. Aflac SEC filing
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price objective (up from $101.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Evercore upped their target price on Aflac from $109.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $101.00 target price (up from $99.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Aflac from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Aflac from $137.00 to $133.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.00.
View Our Latest Research Report on AFL
Aflac Trading Up 0.8%
Shares of NYSE AFL traded up $0.92 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $117.36. 476,330 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,279,331. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $116.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $117.03. 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 company has a market capitalization of $58.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.56. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $105.43 and a 52-week high of $130.22.
Aflac (NYSE:AFL – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $4.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Aflac Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 26.15%.
Aflac Profile
Aflac Incorporated (NYSE: AFL) is an insurance company that provides supplemental health and life insurance products to individuals, employers and groups. Its coverage is designed to help policyholders manage expenses that may not be fully covered by major medical insurance, including costs associated with illness, injury and other qualifying events.
The company’s products include accident, cancer, critical illness, hospital indemnity, disability, dental, vision and life insurance. Aflac distributes its policies through workplace benefits programs, independent agents, brokers and other distribution channels.
Founded in 1955 as American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus, Aflac has its headquarters in Columbus, Georgia.
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