Financial Counselors Inc. Acquires 2,077 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Financial Counselors Inc. raised its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 64.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,077 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $474,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atwood & Palmer Inc. increased its holdings in Aflac by 80.0% during the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter worth $29,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the first quarter valued at $34,000. Sachetta LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Cedar Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter worth $50,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AFL shares. Barclays assumed coverage on Aflac in a research note on Wednesday. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $92.50.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $110.50 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $62.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.20, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a 50 day moving average of $98.32 and a 200 day moving average of $89.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.10. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $73.62 and a 1-year high of $111.14.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.23. Aflac had a net margin of 28.35% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The firm had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.58 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.08%.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,796,552.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Aflac

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.