Guinness Asset Management LTD Has $250.19 Million Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Guinness Asset Management LTD boosted its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 19.4% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,372,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 385,546 shares during the quarter. Aflac makes up about 4.5% of Guinness Asset Management LTD’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Guinness Asset Management LTD’s holdings in Aflac were worth $250,187,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $8,420,000. Brookwood Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the second quarter worth $375,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 38.7% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,129,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $119,135,000 after purchasing an additional 315,102 shares during the period. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the second quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the second quarter valued at $210,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $102,570.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 25,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

Aflac stock opened at $107.22 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.31, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.86. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $96.95 and a 52-week high of $115.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $108.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.60.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. On average, equities analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that permits the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 52.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler set a $125.00 target price on Aflac and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.45.

Aflac Company 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.