Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Reduces Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB reduced its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 143,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,690 shares during the quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in Aflac were worth $15,168,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AFL. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the 1st quarter worth $140,746,000. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 133.2% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 758,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,329,000 after acquiring an additional 433,134 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 10.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,575,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $397,510,000 after acquiring an additional 349,787 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 26.2% in the second quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,654,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $174,515,000 after acquiring an additional 343,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 96.0% in the first quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 407,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,056,000 after acquiring an additional 199,583 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director directly owned 25,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,575,019.85. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $110.21 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.86. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $115.44. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $107.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.45.

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

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

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were given a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the topic of several analyst reports. 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. Evercore ISI set a $110.00 target price on Aflac and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Three investment 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.