Aflac Incorporated $AFL Stock Position Raised by AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs

AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 334 shares during the period. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs’ holdings in Aflac were worth $2,144,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Aflac by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 22,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,414,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 72.2% during the 2nd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $191,000 after purchasing an additional 760 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Aflac by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 229,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,162,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at about $555,000. Finally, Carnegie Investment Counsel boosted its stake in Aflac by 23.4% during the 2nd quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 11,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,185,000 after purchasing an additional 2,131 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $107.22 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $96.95 and a twelve month high of $115.43. The firm has a market cap of $57.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50 day moving average of $108.67 and a 200-day moving average of $105.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter. As a group, analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on AFL. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Evercore ISI set a $110.00 target price on shares of Aflac and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Piper Sandler set a $125.00 price target on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $102.00 price target (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.45.

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.