Burney Co. Trims Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Burney Co. lessened its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 56,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,356 shares during the period. Burney Co.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $5,040,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter worth about $197,820,000. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,588,000. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 196.5% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 484,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,945,000 after purchasing an additional 320,867 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in Aflac by 161.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 311,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,723,000 after purchasing an additional 191,975 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. purchased a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth $12,546,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at $1,796,552.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group upped their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.69.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL stock traded up $0.73 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $109.56. The stock had a trading volume of 755,168 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,207,425. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $88.32. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $73.62 and a 52-week high of $109.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market cap of $62.25 billion, a PE ratio of 12.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.95.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results 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. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. The firm had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 22.08%.

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.