Ritholtz Wealth Management Boosts Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 26,507 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,964,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AFL. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 7,001.0% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 667,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $596,000 after buying an additional 658,303 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 26.6% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,929,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $172,338,000 after acquiring an additional 405,847 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the first quarter valued at $27,588,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 6.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,807,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $429,319,000 after acquiring an additional 285,576 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Aflac by 27.6% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,243,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $111,029,000 after purchasing an additional 268,694 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of AFL stock opened at $113.26 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $75.07 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $107.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.90. The stock has a market cap of $64.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.23. Aflac had a net margin of 28.35% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The firm had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.58 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.76 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 22.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total transaction of $197,880.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at $1,796,552.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.53.

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.