Rothschild Investment LLC Acquires New Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $83,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $197,820,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter worth $27,588,000. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 196.5% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 484,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,945,000 after purchasing an additional 320,867 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of Aflac by 161.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 311,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,723,000 after purchasing an additional 191,975 shares during the period. Finally, Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. purchased a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth about $12,546,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total transaction of $197,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at $1,796,552.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $110.50 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $62.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.20, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.10. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $73.62 and a 1-year high of $111.14. The business has a 50-day moving average of $98.32 and a 200-day moving average of $89.54.

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

Aflac Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the company. Barclays started coverage on Aflac in a report on Wednesday. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.50.

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.