Pure Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 14,205 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,666,000.
Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stephens Inc. AR raised its position in shares of Aflac by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 21,945 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,420,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Compound Planning Inc. grew its position in shares of Aflac by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 13,743 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,508,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Aflac by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,119 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 19,088 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,105,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 7,702 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $902,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Mizuho set a $116.00 price objective on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $124.00 target price (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $122.00 price target on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $116.62.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on AFL
Aflac Stock Performance
Aflac stock opened at $117.53 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $121.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $116.21. The stock has a market cap of $58.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $104.66 and a 1-year high of $130.22.
Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $4.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.11 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 26.91%.The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 EPS for the current year.
Aflac Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.15%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total transaction of $7,441,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 51,169,435 shares in the company, valued at $6,044,133,662.20. This trade represents a 0.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 498,625 shares of company stock worth $58,523,683 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.
About Aflac
(
Free Report)
Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac's product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.
Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.
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