Pure Financial Advisors LLC Has $1.06 Million Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Pure Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Aflac Incorporated by 74.8% during the second quarter, resulting in holdings valued at approximately $1.06 million.
• Aflac reported earnings of $1.78 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, although its revenue fell by 19.0% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.58, representing an annualized yield of 2.1%, and has authorized a share buyback plan to repurchase 100 million shares.

Pure Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 74.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,088 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,317 shares during the quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $1,064,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AFL. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at $140,746,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in Aflac by 133.2% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 758,424 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $84,329,000 after acquiring an additional 433,134 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Aflac by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,575,054 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $397,510,000 after acquiring an additional 349,787 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in Aflac by 26.2% during the 2nd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,654,802 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $174,515,000 after acquiring an additional 343,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc lifted its stake in Aflac by 96.0% during the 1st quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 407,377 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $45,056,000 after acquiring an additional 199,583 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Aflac Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $110.59 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $96.95 and a 52-week high of $115.50. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $106.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.07. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%.The business had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.83 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac's payout ratio is currently 52.61%.

Aflac declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, August 12th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI restated an "underperform" rating and set a $106.00 price objective (up from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.15.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $102,570.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Aflac Profile

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.

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