Advisor Resource Council Makes New $286,000 Investment in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Advisor Resource Council acquired a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,577 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $286,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.79, for a total value of $106,790.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 26,096 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,786,791.84. This trade represents a 3.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total value of $3,906,830.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 70,992 shares in the company, valued at $7,496,045.28. This represents a 34.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 40,750 shares of company stock valued at $4,304,295 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on AFL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays raised their target price on Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $104.93.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE:AFL traded up $1.52 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $104.00. 2,149,037 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,113,340. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $104.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.23 billion, a PE ratio of 16.25, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.82. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $88.00 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 21.27%. Aflac's revenue was down 37.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.66 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st were issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac's payout ratio is currently 36.25%.

Aflac Company 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.