Nordwand Advisors LLC Takes $910,000 Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Nordwand Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 8,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $910,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 64.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after buying an additional 5,708 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $455,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Aflac by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 286,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,842,000 after acquiring an additional 2,385 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in Aflac by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 20,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,227,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OneAscent Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 88.7% during the 1st quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 4,432 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $496,000 after purchasing an additional 2,083 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, EVP Frederic Jean Guy Simard sold 1,722 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $193,725.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 1,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $153,450. This represents a 55.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.00, for a total value of $114,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 23,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,692,110. This trade represents a 4.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Aflac Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $112.17 on Tuesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $115.83. The company has a market capitalization of $58.79 billion, a PE ratio of 25.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $109.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%. Analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 12th that permits the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be given a $0.61 dividend. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 18th. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 30.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler set a $125.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.00.

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.