Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC Purchases 4,275 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 130.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,275 shares during the period. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $828,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Navalign LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management lifted its position in Aflac by 95.6% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $117.22 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $116.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $96.95 and a 12 month high of $120.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.61.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.09 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th were given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.38, for a total transaction of $18,655,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 51,723,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,641,978. This trade represents a 0.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 1,062,871 shares of company stock worth $122,790,124 in the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Evercore upgraded Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Mizuho set a $104.00 price target on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, May 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.27.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.