Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 11.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 62,802 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 7,815 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $6,983,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Aflac by 121.9% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter valued at $206,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Aflac by 11.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 13,527 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,504,000 after acquiring an additional 1,411 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the 1st quarter worth about $865,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Evercore ISI restated an "underperform" rating and issued a $106.00 price objective (up from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut their price target on Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $109.15.
Check Out Our Latest Report on AFL
Aflac Trading Up 0.2%
Shares of AFL stock traded up $0.2630 on Thursday, hitting $108.1630. The stock had a trading volume of 1,605,846 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,168,888. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $96.95 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $102.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $104.83. The firm has a market cap of $57.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.54, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.83.
Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%.Aflac's quarterly revenue was down 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Aflac Announces Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.61%.
Aflac declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 12th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $102,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 25,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.
Aflac Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
Before you consider Aflac, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Aflac wasn't on the list.
While Aflac currently has a Hold rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Nuclear energy stocks are roaring. It's the hottest energy sector of the year. Cameco Corp, Paladin Energy, and BWX Technologies were all up more than 40% in 2024. The biggest market moves could still be ahead of us, and there are seven nuclear energy stocks that could rise much higher in the next several months. To unlock these tickers, enter your email address below.
Get This Free Report
Like this article? Share it with a colleague.
Link copied to clipboard.
MarketBeat All Access