Ritholtz Wealth Management Acquires 6,474 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 32.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,474 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,350,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Atwood & Palmer Inc. lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 80.0% in the 1st quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Aflac in the first quarter worth about $29,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter worth about $34,000. Sachetta LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AFL. Truist Financial increased their target price on Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Aflac from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.69.

Aflac Trading Up 0.7 %

Aflac stock opened at $110.36 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $97.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $88.97. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $73.62 and a 12 month high of $110.68. The company has a market capitalization of $61.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.95.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.23. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. The business had revenue of $5.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 22.08%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total transaction of $197,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,796,552.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.