Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Invests $3.05 Million in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI bought a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 25,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,046,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Groupe la Francaise acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Evergreen Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Aflac from $117.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Aflac from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $138.00 target price (up from $130.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $108.00 price target (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Friday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.58.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $120.95 on Tuesday. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $104.66 and a twelve month high of $130.22. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $121.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $115.95. The company has a market capitalization of $60.64 billion, a PE ratio of 12.96, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $4.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 26.91% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The business’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 26.15%.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total transaction of $7,441,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 51,169,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,044,133,662.20. This trade represents a 0.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 541,333 shares of company stock valued at $63,345,006. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Aflac

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.