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

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 19,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,724,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $450,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its position in shares of Aflac by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 25,636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,115,000 after buying an additional 932 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth about $197,820,000. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 34.5% in the fourth quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 5,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $477,000 after acquiring an additional 1,484 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $484,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Aflac from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. 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 note on Tuesday, July 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $92.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the business’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 completion of 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $109.56 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $74.89 and a 1-year high of $111.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.10. The business has a 50 day moving average of $101.89 and a 200 day moving average of $91.45. The company has a market capitalization of $62.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.09, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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