First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Boosts Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 15.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 22,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,998 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,906,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 78.7% during the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 25,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,991,000 after acquiring an additional 11,428 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth $346,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.7% during the third 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. Lido Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 108.5% in the third quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 128,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,870,000 after acquiring an additional 66,920 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 2.8% in the third quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 5,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $400,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AFL shares. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.69.

Aflac Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $89.09 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $69.00 and a 12-month high of $91.15. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $87.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.01. 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 capitalization of $50.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.83, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.95.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. Analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.46 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

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

Aflac Profile

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.