Haverford Trust Co Takes $721,000 Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Haverford Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 6,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $721,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Davis Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Aflac in the second quarter worth $234,000. First Nebraska Trust Co bought a new position in Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at $332,000. Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new position in Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at $6,068,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,594,000. Finally, Alta Advisers Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at $202,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Aflac

Here are the key news stories impacting Aflac this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Aflac’s quarterly dividend is $0.61 per share, or $2.44 annualized, providing a yield of roughly 2.1%. The company has a long record of dividend growth and a relatively low payout ratio of about 26%, supporting its appeal as a defensive income stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent earnings were mixed: quarterly revenue of $4.22 billion exceeded analyst expectations of $4.11 billion, but earnings per share of $1.75 narrowly missed the $1.76 consensus. Revenue declined 1% year over year and EPS fell from $1.78 in the prior-year quarter, limiting fundamental momentum.
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street’s overall view remains cautious, with a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target near $116.62. Some analysts remain constructive, including Piper Sandler with a $138 target, while others maintain neutral or underweight ratings.
• Negative Sentiment: Wolfe Research initiated coverage with an “underperform” rating and a $103 price target, implying meaningful downside from recent trading levels. The call adds to existing concerns from Barclays and JPMorgan, which also have cautious ratings or targets. Wolfe Research Starts Aflac at Underperform
• Negative Sentiment: Japan Post Holdings, Aflac’s major shareholder, sold another 12,700 shares on August 19 for approximately $1.49 million, following sales of 14,200 shares on August 18 and 13,900 shares on August 17. The transactions were conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan and represent only a small reduction in its stake, but the repeated selling may weigh on investor sentiment. Aflac SEC Insider Filing

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target 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. Mizuho set a $116.00 price objective on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $117.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $108.00 price objective (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $122.00 target price on shares of Aflac and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total value of $7,441,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 51,169,435 shares in the company, valued at $6,044,133,662.20. This trade represents a 0.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 497,625 shares of company stock worth $58,356,483 in the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $116.12 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $104.66 and a 1 year high of $130.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $121.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $116.12. The firm has a market cap of $58.22 billion, a PE ratio of 12.45, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.60.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.15%.

Aflac 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.