Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Bought by Liberty One Investment Management LLC

Liberty One Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 31.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,359 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,584 shares during the period. Liberty One Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $5,305,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Stephens Inc. AR increased its holdings in Aflac by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 21,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,420,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 19,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,105,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 7,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $902,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Confluence Wealth Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 11,923 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,315,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total value of $7,441,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 51,169,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,044,133,662.20. The trade was a 0.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 744,916 shares of company stock worth $87,118,632 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE:AFL opened at $124.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, 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 $125.93. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $118.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $114.11. The stock has a market cap of $63.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.61.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th were given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Mizuho set a $112.00 target price on Aflac in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $108.00 price objective (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $116.17.

Aflac Profile

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.