Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE Purchases 10,150 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE lifted its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 100.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 20,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,150 shares during the quarter. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Navalign LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Activest Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 95.6% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 80.6% in the 4th quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC now owns 354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 13,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.05, for a total value of $1,613,095.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 51,155,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,936,599,836.75. This represents a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 914,456 shares of company stock worth $104,340,566 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $117.03 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $114.39 and a 200 day moving average of $111.91. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $96.95 and a 12-month high of $119.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.61.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.66 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 27.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Aflac from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Evercore raised shares of Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.27.

Aflac Profile

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.