Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Sold by Wealthstar Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Wealthstar Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Aflac Incorporated by 75.9% during the second quarter, owning 3,869 shares valued at $408,000 after selling 12,205 shares.
• Aflac reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS), exceeding analysts' expectations by $0.07, but its quarterly revenue was down 19.0% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.58, with a yield of 2.1%, and also initiated a share buyback plan to repurchase 100 million shares.

Wealthstar Advisors LLC lowered its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 75.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,869 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 12,205 shares during the quarter. Wealthstar Advisors LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $408,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NorthRock Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $725,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 495 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC now owns 2,065 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 6,653 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $711,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Stiles Financial Services Inc grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 3,070 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $102.00 price target (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI set a $110.00 price target on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.45.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $111.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $59.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company's 50-day moving average is $107.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.51. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $96.95 and a 12-month high of $115.44.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. Research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is 52.61%.

Aflac declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, August 12th that permits the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $102,570.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Aflac 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.

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