Kestra Advisory Services LLC Purchases 17,998 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Kestra Advisory Services boosted its Aflac stake by 40.4% in the first quarter, buying 17,998 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 62,565 shares worth about $6.86 million.
• Insiders have been selling shares, including major shareholder Post Holdings Japan and Director Joseph L. Moskowitz, while company insiders now own just 0.80% of Aflac’s stock.
• Wall Street sentiment is mixed: analysts currently rate Aflac as a “Hold” on average, with a consensus price target of $114.50, even as several firms recently nudged targets higher.

Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 40.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,565 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 17,998 shares during the quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $6,864,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Navalign LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 95.6% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 311 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 27,845 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.71, for a total value of $3,249,789.95. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 50,898,490 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,940,362,767.90. The trade was a 0.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 12,370 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.54, for a total transaction of $1,441,599.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 33,310 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,881,947.40. The trade was a 27.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 744,916 shares of company stock worth $87,118,632. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AFL. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Aflac from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Aflac from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and set a $108.00 target price (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Friday. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $124.00 target price (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Mizuho set a $112.00 price target on Aflac in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $114.50.

Aflac Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE AFL opened at $122.14 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $124.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market cap of $62.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.61. The stock's 50-day moving average is $117.25 and its 200-day moving average is $113.47.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AFL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.