Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE Takes $1.13 Million Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 10,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,129,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total transaction of $3,906,830.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 70,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,496,045.28. The trade was a 34.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total value of $290,675.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,728 shares in the company, valued at $711,149.60. The trade was a 29.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 40,750 shares of company stock valued at $4,304,295. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group raised their price target on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.93.

Aflac Price Performance

Aflac stock opened at $102.66 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $105.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.68. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $86.46 and a one year high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market cap of $55.50 billion, a PE ratio of 10.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.82.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. The company’s revenue was down 37.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 36.25%.

Aflac 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.