Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Acquired by Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 29,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,136 shares during the quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,550,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Eudaimonia Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 234.6% during the fourth quarter. Eudaimonia Partners LLC now owns 10,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $862,000 after acquiring an additional 7,325 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,558,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 86,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,096,000 after acquiring an additional 15,855 shares during the last quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors Inc. now owns 139,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,481,000 after acquiring an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,546,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.46.

Aflac Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of AFL traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $89.31. 3,454,605 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,250,042. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $68.34 and a 52-week high of $91.15. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.82. The firm has a market cap of $50.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.09 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 21st. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.08%.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total value of $1,957,403.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares in the company, valued at $5,381,329.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $50,904.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,337,342. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total value of $1,957,403.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,381,329.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Aflac Company 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.