NewEdge Advisors LLC Purchases 10,303 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Aflac Incorporated by 7.4%, acquiring an additional 10,303 shares, bringing its total to 148,829 shares valued at approximately $16.5 million.
• Multiple institutional investors, including UBS AM and Goldman Sachs, also boosted their holdings in Aflac, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.
• Aflac recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.58 per share and launched a stock buyback program allowing the repurchase of up to 100 million shares, suggesting the company believes its stock is undervalued.

NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 7.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 148,829 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 10,303 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $16,548,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake 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. Groupe la Francaise purchased a new stake in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Aflac by 90.8% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 330 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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 decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Evercore ISI restated an "underperform" rating and set a $106.00 price target (up previously from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Three 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $109.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL traded down $0.52 on Monday, hitting $106.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,939,025 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,506,788. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $103.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.12. The firm has a market cap of $56.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.85. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $96.95 and a 12 month high of $115.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. Aflac's revenue for the quarter was down 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. Analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.61%.

Aflac declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

About Aflac

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.