Cerity Partners LLC Sells 4,808 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Cerity Partners LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 222,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,808 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $23,445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at $2,070,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter worth $551,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in Aflac by 14.5% in the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 222,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,485,000 after purchasing an additional 28,190 shares in the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 4.8% during the second quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 140,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,857,000 after purchasing an additional 6,400 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,167,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $439,545,000 after purchasing an additional 594,971 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $107.93 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $110.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $106.49. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $96.95 and a 1-year high of $115.83. The stock has a market cap of $56.56 billion, a PE ratio of 14.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.66.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter. Aflac had a return on equity of 14.97% and a net margin of 23.55%.The business had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter. As a group, analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.29%.

Aflac announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program 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 programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler set a $125.00 target price on Aflac and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $104.00 target price (up from $102.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.00.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other news, EVP Frederic Jean Guy Simard sold 1,722 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $193,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 1,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $153,450. The trade was a 55.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.00, for a total value of $114,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 23,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,692,110. This trade represents a 4.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 26,274 shares of company stock worth $2,948,167 over the last quarter. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.