Bank & Trust Co Acquires New Shares in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $71,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth $94,000. Stokes Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Aflac in the second quarter worth $234,000. DNB Asset Management AS increased its position in Aflac by 3.0% during the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 100,015 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,932,000 after buying an additional 2,885 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in Aflac by 576.9% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 8,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $721,000 after buying an additional 6,882 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Aflac by 193.4% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $834,000 after buying an additional 6,153 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE AFL traded up $1.43 on Tuesday, reaching $98.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,175,343 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,246,525. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $72.78 and a 52 week high of $104.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $56.03 billion, a PE ratio of 10.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $90.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.84.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $5.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.58 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s payout ratio is 22.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $88.08.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total transaction of $1,957,403.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,381,329.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $50,904.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,550 shares in the company, valued at $2,337,342. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total value of $1,957,403.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,381,329.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.