Cornerstone Advisors LLC Sells 8,600 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Cornerstone Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 25.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,600 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,242,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 86,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,096,000 after purchasing an additional 15,855 shares in the last quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors Inc. now owns 139,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,481,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 6.7% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,806,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $155,140,000 after purchasing an additional 113,226 shares in the last quarter. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,546,000. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 633,472 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,262,000 after purchasing an additional 44,875 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays began coverage on Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.50.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,796,552.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Aflac Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of AFL stock opened at $110.17 on Tuesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $74.89 and a 52-week high of $111.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a current ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.70 billion, a PE ratio of 12.16, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $101.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.24.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.58 EPS. Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.08%.

Aflac 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.