Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Acquires Shares of 79,843 Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 79,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,420,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 64.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 5,708 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Aflac by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Aflac by 11.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 13,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,411 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Aflac by 937.2% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 1,284 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Aflac by 5.9% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 16,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,887,000 after purchasing an additional 951 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $102,570.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 25,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,575,019.85. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $107.22 on Monday. The company 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. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $96.95 and a 12-month high of $115.43. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $108.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.60.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business 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, analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a $0.58 dividend. 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 (DPR) is currently 52.61%.

Aflac announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Aflac in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI set a $110.00 price target on shares of Aflac and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Piper Sandler set a $125.00 price target on shares of Aflac and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.45.

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.