Advisory Resource Group Acquires 2,877 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Advisory Resource Group increased its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 6.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,877 shares during the period. Aflac accounts for 1.0% of Advisory Resource Group’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Advisory Resource Group’s holdings in Aflac were worth $5,246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AFL. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its position in Aflac by 5.4% during the second quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 119,337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,585,000 after purchasing an additional 6,144 shares during the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Aflac by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its holdings in Aflac by 28.8% during the 2nd quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 5,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $616,000 after acquiring an additional 1,305 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. boosted its position in Aflac by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 40,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,261,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beck Bode LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Beck Bode LLC now owns 165,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,483,000 after buying an additional 12,135 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, EVP Frederic Jean Guy Simard sold 1,722 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $193,725.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 1,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $153,450. This represents a 55.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.00, for a total value of $114,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 23,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,692,110. This trade represents a 4.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

Aflac stock opened at $114.27 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $109.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $105.95. The stock has a market cap of $59.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $96.95 and a 1-year high of $115.84.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. On average, analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

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

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 18th. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 30.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $104.00 price target (up previously from $102.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group dropped their price target on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $125.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.50.

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.