Biltmore Family Office LLC Cuts Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Biltmore Family Office LLC lowered its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 25,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,254,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $197,820,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in Aflac by 7,001.0% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 667,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $596,000 after purchasing an additional 658,303 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,588,000. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in Aflac by 196.5% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 484,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,945,000 after purchasing an additional 320,867 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in Aflac by 161.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 311,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,723,000 after purchasing an additional 191,975 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,796,552.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $108.42 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $60.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.97, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.95. The business’s fifty day moving average is $99.91 and its 200 day moving average is $90.45. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $74.89 and a twelve month high of $111.14. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.23. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. The company had revenue of $5.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.58 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on AFL shares. Citigroup boosted 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Aflac from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.50.

About Aflac

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.