Virtu Financial LLC Invests $1.72 Million in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 19,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,724,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. grew its holdings in Aflac by 80.0% in the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter valued at $29,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Aflac from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.50.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL stock opened at $109.56 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $62.25 billion, a PE ratio of 12.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a 50 day moving average of $101.89 and a 200-day moving average of $91.45. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $74.89 and a 12-month high of $111.14.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. The business’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.58 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s payout ratio is 22.08%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,796,552.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.