Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC reduced its stake in Aflac Incorporated by 0.9%, owning 280,040 shares valued at approximately $29.5 million at the end of the second quarter.
• Several institutional investors, including Sage Private Wealth Group LLC and Nordea Investment Management AB, increased their positions in Aflac during the same period, indicating mixed investor sentiment.
• Aflac recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.58 per share, with an annualized yield of 2.2%, while a share repurchase plan allowing for the buyback of 100 million shares has been initiated.

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC decreased its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 0.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 280,040 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,533 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Aflac worth $29,533,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sage Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in Aflac by 5.5% during the second quarter. Sage Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,537 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $479,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Aflac by 4.3% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,703,397 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $178,056,000 after purchasing an additional 70,244 shares in the last quarter. S Bank Fund Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Aflac during the second quarter valued at about $1,647,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Aflac by 5.5% during the second quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 63,940 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,743,000 after purchasing an additional 3,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mutual Advisors LLC raised its position in Aflac by 1.3% during the second quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 17,196 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,778,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $102,570.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at $2,575,019.85. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on AFL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. 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. Piper Sandler set a $125.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $109.45.

Aflac Stock Up 1.0%

AFL opened at $107.82 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $96.95 and a 12 month high of $115.44. The company has a market cap of $57.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business's 50-day moving average price is $108.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.46.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%.The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter. On average, equities analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac's payout ratio is currently 52.61%.

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.

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