Chilton Capital Management LLC Acquires New Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 246 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $26,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth $210,000. QV Investors Inc. lifted its position in Aflac by 0.7% during the second quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 20,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,114,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. VestGen Investment Management lifted its position in Aflac by 7.7% during the second quarter. VestGen Investment Management now owns 6,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $712,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 1,526.7% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TSA Wealth Managment LLC grew its holdings in Aflac by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. TSA Wealth Managment LLC now owns 2,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AFL. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research note on Friday. Piper Sandler set a $125.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.45.

Aflac Price Performance

Aflac stock opened at $107.22 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $108.67 and a 200-day moving average of $105.60. 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 market capitalization of $57.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.31, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.86.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.61%.

Aflac declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 12th that permits the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac 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 value of $102,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

About Aflac

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.