AlTi Global Inc. Has $443,000 Stake in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

AlTi Global Inc. grew its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 7.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,984 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 259 shares during the quarter. AlTi Global Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $443,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 12,313.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,504,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $167,237,000 after buying an additional 1,491,951 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the 1st quarter worth approximately $140,746,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Aflac by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,250,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $543,154,000 after acquiring an additional 556,394 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $48,081,000. Finally, Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 133.2% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 758,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,329,000 after purchasing an additional 433,134 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $102,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Trading Up 1.0%

AFL stock opened at $106.68 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $57.05 billion, a PE ratio of 24.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.85. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $115.50. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $103.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. The business’s revenue was down 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, August 12th that permits the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on AFL shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Barclays set a $98.00 target price on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.15.

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.