Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Has $27.57 Million Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its Aflac stake by 3.6% in the first quarter, buying 8,674 more shares and bringing its total to 251,286 shares valued at about $27.57 million.
• Wall Street sentiment on Aflac remains mixed: the stock has a consensus rating of Hold with an average target price of $112.27, even as some firms upgraded or maintained bullish views while others cut targets.
• Aflac reported Q1 EPS of $1.75, missing estimates by $0.05, but revenue came in slightly above expectations at $4.24 billion. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, equal to a 2.0% annualized yield.

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 3.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 251,286 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 8,674 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $27,569,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Navalign LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 95.6% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 311 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AFL. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Barclays set a $99.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Evercore upgraded Aflac from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings raised Aflac from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $112.27.

Aflac Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of AFL opened at $120.05 on Tuesday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $115.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $112.62. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $96.95 and a 12 month high of $120.29. The company has a market capitalization of $61.10 billion, a PE ratio of 13.63, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.66 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.09 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.70%.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.38, for a total value of $18,655,080.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 51,723,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,641,978. The trade was a 0.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,082,471 shares of company stock worth $124,943,184. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Aflac 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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