Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Bought by Railway Pension Investments Ltd

Railway Pension Investments Ltd lifted its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 90,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,300 shares during the period. Railway Pension Investments Ltd’s holdings in Aflac were worth $8,056,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of AFL. Atwood & Palmer Inc. increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 80.0% in the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Sachetta LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Up 0.2 %

AFL stock traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $107.72. 337,576 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,213,042. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $95.53 and its 200-day moving average is $88.11. The company has a market cap of $61.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $73.62 and a 52-week high of $108.31.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 28.35% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The company’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.58 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AFL. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,796,552.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.90% 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.