Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Purchased by Huntington National Bank

Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 238,708 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,622 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Aflac were worth $25,174,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the first quarter worth about $140,746,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at about $60,954,000. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in 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. Guinness Asset Management LTD boosted its holdings in Aflac by 19.4% in the 2nd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,372,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $250,187,000 after purchasing an additional 385,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Aflac by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,575,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $397,510,000 after purchasing an additional 349,787 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on AFL. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $102.00 target price (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Piper Sandler set a $125.00 target price on shares of Aflac and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.90.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $106.92 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $108.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.58. 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 Incorporated has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $115.43. The firm has a market cap of $57.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.