Berkeley Capital Partners LLC Has $1.22 Million Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Berkeley Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 52.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,983 shares during the quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,220,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the first quarter valued at about $2,070,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the first quarter worth approximately $551,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 121.9% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the first quarter worth approximately $2,626,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 11.8% in the second quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 32,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,478,000 after acquiring an additional 3,484 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $108.77 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $58.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 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 quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $108.45 and a 200-day moving average of $105.41.

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

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other 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 $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.