Venturi Wealth Management LLC Has $1.04 Million Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Venturi Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,826 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,105 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,036,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs bought a new position in Aflac during the first quarter worth $2,070,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth $551,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 121.9% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 11.8% during 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 buying an additional 3,484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth $2,626,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 sale, the director directly owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFL has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group dropped their target price on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $106.00 price target (up previously from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Piper Sandler set a $125.00 price target on Aflac and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Four 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.17.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $111.87 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $59.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $107.06 and its 200-day moving average is $105.50. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $96.95 and a 1-year high of $115.44.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, August 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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 $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.61%.

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.