Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Boosts Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 503.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 245,455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 204,762 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP’s holdings in Aflac were worth $25,886,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 1,526.7% in the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the period. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AFL shares. Piper Sandler set a $125.00 target price on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $104.00 price objective (up from $102.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Aflac from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 786 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.75, for a total value of $89,407.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 24,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,824,298.75. This trade represents a 3.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 15,862 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.00, for a total value of $1,776,544.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 230,688 shares in the company, valued at $25,837,056. The trade was a 6.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 26,274 shares of company stock valued at $2,948,167 over the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $110.10 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $57.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.37, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.66. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $115.83. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $106.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter. Aflac had a net margin of 23.55% and a return on equity of 14.97%. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.61 dividend. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 30.29%.

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.