BluePath Capital Management LLC Sells 2,766 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

BluePath Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,766 shares during the period. Aflac makes up 5.0% of BluePath Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. BluePath Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $8,077,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in Aflac in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter worth about $50,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at about $54,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 116.7% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Aflac by 178.6% during the second quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.87.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total transaction of $197,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at $1,796,552.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Aflac Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of AFL opened at $104.71 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $75.07 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The company’s fifty day moving average is $110.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.68. The firm has a market cap of $58.64 billion, a PE ratio of 15.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.51% and a net margin of 22.02%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.12%.

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.