Belpointe Asset Management LLC Acquires New Stake in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Belpointe Asset Management LLC acquired 4,955 shares of Aflac Incorporated, valued at approximately $551,000, marking a new position for the firm.
• Aflac recently announced a **quarterly dividend** of $0.58 per share, with a yield of 2.1%, and has authorized a share buyback program of up to **100 million shares**.
• The company's latest quarterly earnings report revealed **$1.78 EPS**, slightly above analyst expectations, but revenue was down **19% year-over-year**.

Belpointe Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 4,955 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $551,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 121.9% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter valued at $34,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 90.8% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 330 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $102,570.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 25,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,575,019.85. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Stock Down 0.8%

AFL stock traded down $0.83 during trading on Monday, reaching $108.30. 1,834,958 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,392,392. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $96.95 and a 12 month high of $115.50. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $104.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.16. The company has a market capitalization of $57.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%.The company's revenue for the quarter was down 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Aflac's payout ratio is currently 52.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Evercore ISI restated an "underperform" rating and set a $106.00 price target (up from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. UBS Group cut their price target on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.15.

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.