Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Acquires 195 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,997 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,374,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ancora Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 111.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 1,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 668 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 78.7% in the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 25,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,991,000 after buying an additional 11,428 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 1,899.4% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 64,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,944,000 after buying an additional 61,200 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at $346,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 896,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $68,850,000 after buying an additional 6,102 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total value of $1,957,403.66. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares in the company, valued at $5,381,329.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $50,904.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,550 shares in the company, valued at $2,337,342. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total value of $1,957,403.66. Following the sale, the director now owns 61,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,381,329.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.69.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL stock opened at $89.10 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $87.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market cap of $50.63 billion, a PE ratio of 9.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.95. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $69.00 and a 1-year high of $91.15.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 21st. Aflac’s payout ratio is 22.08%.

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.