Corebridge Financial Inc. Has $13.15 Million Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Corebridge Financial Inc. reduced its holdings in Aflac Incorporated by 4.1% during the first quarter, selling 4,993 shares, resulting in a total ownership of 118,284 shares valued at approximately $13.15 million.
• Aflac recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.58 per share, which translates to an annualized yield of 2.1%, with plans for payment on September 2nd.
• The company is executing a share buyback program allowing for the repurchase of up to 100 million shares, indicating a belief from management that the stock is currently undervalued.

Corebridge Financial Inc. decreased its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 4.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 118,284 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,993 shares during the quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc.'s holdings in Aflac were worth $13,152,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 64.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 5,708 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Aflac by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,296,014 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $754,700,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357,753 shares during the period. Voleon Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth approximately $250,000. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $455,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, Rehmann Capital Advisory Group boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 9,217 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $953,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AFL. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $109.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL traded up $0.86 during trading on Friday, hitting $106.96. 2,399,018 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,736,417. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $103.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.98. The company has a market cap of $57.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.25, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $96.95 and a twelve month high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

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

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

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.