Cerity Partners LLC Acquires 29,772 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Cerity Partners LLC increased its Aflac stake by 11.8% in the fourth quarter, buying 29,772 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 283,016 shares worth about $31.2 million.
• Other institutions also made moves in Aflac, while institutional ownership remains high at 67.44% of the company’s stock.
• Aflac’s recent earnings showed EPS of $1.75, missing estimates, even as revenue came in slightly above expectations; the company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, yielding about 2.1% annually.

Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 11.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 283,016 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 29,772 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Aflac worth $31,206,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in Aflac by 276.8% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,021 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the period. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth $85,000. Syon Capital LLC increased its position in Aflac by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 18,543 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,045,000 after buying an additional 1,167 shares during the period. Valtrion Capital Management LLC increased its position in Aflac by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Valtrion Capital Management LLC now owns 8,034 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $886,000 after buying an additional 335 shares during the period. Finally, Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. increased its position in Aflac by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 2,584 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 13,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.05, for a total value of $1,613,095.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 51,155,535 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,936,599,836.75. This trade represents a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 914,456 shares of company stock valued at $104,340,566 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on AFL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings cut Aflac from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Aflac from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Mizuho set a $104.00 target price on Aflac in a report on Monday, May 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $112.27.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $117.03 on Thursday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $114.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $111.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.56 billion, a PE ratio of 13.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $96.95 and a twelve month high of $119.81.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.66 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th were paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.70%.

Aflac Company Profile

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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