Moran Wealth Management LLC Sells 9,954 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Moran Wealth Management reduced its Aflac stake by 5.0% in the first quarter, selling 9,954 shares and ending with 188,305 shares valued at about $20.7 million.
• Aflac reported mixed quarterly results: EPS of $1.75 missed estimates by $0.05, while revenue of $4.24 billion slightly beat expectations and rose 27.9% year over year.
• The company continues to return cash to shareholders, recently paying a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, equal to an annualized yield of about 2.0%.

Moran Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 5.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 188,305 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 9,954 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $20,659,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 84,476 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,268,000 after acquiring an additional 6,768 shares during the period. DB Fitzpatrick & Co Inc increased its holdings in Aflac by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. DB Fitzpatrick & Co Inc now owns 10,691 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in Aflac by 30.3% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 26,268 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,882,000 after buying an additional 6,105 shares during the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG grew its holdings in Aflac by 54.1% during the 1st quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 615 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its position in Aflac by 87.6% in the 1st quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 172,024 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $18,873,000 after acquiring an additional 80,350 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Aflac Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of AFL stock opened at $120.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $96.95 and a fifty-two week high of $120.88. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $112.89. The company has a market cap of $61.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.70, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.61.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.66 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th were given 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 2.0%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 12,370 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.54, for a total value of $1,441,599.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 33,310 shares in the company, valued at $3,881,947.40. This represents a 27.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 27,845 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.71, for a total transaction of $3,249,789.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 50,898,490 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,940,362,767.90. This trade represents a 0.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 1,042,771 shares of company stock valued at $120,575,104 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AFL. Evercore upgraded shares of Aflac from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings raised Aflac from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Barclays set a $99.00 price target on Aflac and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Aflac from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $112.27.

About Aflac

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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