Clarius Group LLC Grows Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Clarius Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,417 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $518,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its holdings in Aflac by 99,608.4% in the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,691,395,636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $118,059,415,000 after acquiring an additional 1,689,699,293 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 338.0% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,604,901 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $93,656,000 after purchasing an additional 4,325,212 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 71.2% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,512,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $420,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,707,608 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth about $175,416,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Aflac by 62.4% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,936,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $317,865,000 after purchasing an additional 1,897,212 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.75% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director William P. Bowers sold 23,701 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.51, for a total transaction of $1,931,868.51. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 60,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,900,218.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Frederick John Crawford sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.37, for a total transaction of $8,137,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 236,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,247,178.43. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director William P. Bowers sold 23,701 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.51, for a total value of $1,931,868.51. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 60,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,900,218.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 165,556 shares of company stock valued at $13,413,385 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of AFL stock traded up $1.14 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $81.56. 309,421 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,425,073. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.16. The company has a market capitalization of $47.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.89. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $60.20 and a fifty-two week high of $82.71.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.31 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 24.17% and a return on equity of 17.86%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.23 EPS. Research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 14th. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 22.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Aflac from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com started coverage on Aflac in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Aflac from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 2nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Aflac from $69.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.30.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, provides supplemental health and life insurance products. It operates in two segments, Aflac Japan and Aflac U.S. 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.