Opal Capital LLC Makes New $1.08 Million Investment in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Opal Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 9,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,081,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 64.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 5,708 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at $280,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in Aflac by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 150,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,854,000 after acquiring an additional 15,105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 11,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,261,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.38, for a total transaction of $18,655,080.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 51,723,100 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,641,978. This represents a 0.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,009,956 shares of company stock worth $115,897,719. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on AFL. Mizuho set a $104.00 price target on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.27.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $117.38 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $96.95 and a fifty-two week high of $119.81. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $114.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $112.09. The firm has a market cap of $59.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.32, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.61.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

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.