Vise Technologies Inc. Acquires 51,532 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 51,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,760,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Compound Planning Inc. increased its holdings in Aflac by 0.7% in the first quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 13,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,508,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors lifted its holdings in Aflac by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 7,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $784,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Aflac by 1.9% during the third quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $564,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 7,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $897,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in Aflac by 0.6% during the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 17,063 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,987,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $124.57 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $116.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $115.90. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $105.48 and a 52 week high of $130.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.56.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $4.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 26.91%. Aflac’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.78 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were issued a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 26.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Aflac from $122.00 to $116.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Aflac from $116.00 to $107.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Evercore increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $109.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $138.00 price target (up from $130.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Aflac from $137.00 to $133.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 113,611 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.53, for a total transaction of $13,466,311.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 50,134,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,942,422,016.37. This trade represents a 0.23% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 713,662 shares of company stock worth $83,323,978. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Profile

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) is an insurance company specializing in supplemental health and life insurance. Through its policies, the company helps individuals and families manage expenses that may not be fully covered by major medical insurance, including deductibles, copayments and other out-of-pocket costs.

Aflac offers products such as accident, cancer, critical illness, hospital indemnity, dental and vision, disability, life and long-term care insurance. Many of its supplemental policies provide cash benefits directly to policyholders, who can generally use the funds according to their individual needs.