Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp Purchases 1,136 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp increased its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 29,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,136 shares during the quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,550,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Eudaimonia Partners LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 234.6% in the fourth quarter. Eudaimonia Partners LLC now owns 10,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $862,000 after buying an additional 7,325 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,558,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Aflac by 22.6% in 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 buying an additional 15,855 shares in the last quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Aflac by 0.4% in 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 buying an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. bought a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,546,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total transaction of $1,957,403.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,381,329.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total value of $1,957,403.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,381,329.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $50,904.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,337,342. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Up 0.2 %

AFL traded up $0.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $89.31. 3,454,605 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,250,042. The stock has a market cap of $50.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.96. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $68.34 and a twelve month high of $91.15. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $87.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. Aflac had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.46 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. Aflac’s payout ratio is 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.