Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Purchased by Archer Investment Corp

Archer Investment Corp raised its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 1,639.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,679 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,525 shares during the quarter. Archer Investment Corp's holdings in Aflac were worth $298,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 64.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,507,000 after buying an additional 5,708 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at $192,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at about $439,000. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its stake in Aflac by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 5,629 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $582,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $323,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.79, for a total value of $106,790.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 26,096 shares in the company, valued at $2,786,791.84. This trade represents a 3.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total value of $290,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $711,149.60. The trade was a 29.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 40,750 shares of company stock valued at $4,304,295. Insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL opened at $101.78 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company's 50-day moving average price is $103.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.17. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $92.44 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The firm has a market cap of $55.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.81.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 15.55%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. Aflac's payout ratio is currently 36.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AFL shares. Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Barclays set a $98.00 price target on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $107.07.

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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