Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Has $453,000 Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. reduced its stake in Aflac Incorporated by 48.9% during the second quarter, owning 4,296 shares worth $453,000 at quarter's end.
• Multiple institutional investors have adjusted their holdings in Aflac, with Brighton Jones LLC increasing its position by 64.4% in the fourth quarter.
• Aflac's board has authorized a share repurchase plan for up to 100 million shares, indicating confidence in its stock valuation.

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. lowered its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 48.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,296 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,111 shares during the period. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Aflac were worth $453,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Aflac by 64.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 5,708 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $455,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 19,203 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,986,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 97.7% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 287,437 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,733,000 after buying an additional 142,028 shares during the period. Finally, Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. bought a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $206,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on AFL. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $109.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was 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 $2,575,019.85. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Aflac Stock Up 0.2%

Aflac stock opened at $109.50 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $58.56 billion, a PE ratio of 24.83, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.85. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $96.95 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The firm's fifty day moving average is $105.24 and its 200 day moving average is $105.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.07. The firm 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 business's quarterly revenue was down 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

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

Aflac declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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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