Sawyer & Company Inc Acquires 11,639 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Sawyer & Company initiated a position in Aflac by purchasing 11,639 shares valued at approximately $1.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 67.44% of Aflac’s outstanding stock.
• Analysts remain mixed, with Aflac carrying a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $117.20. Recent target prices ranged from $110 to $125, while Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock to “Sell.”
• Aflac shares recently traded at $120.57 and pay a quarterly dividend of $0.61, equivalent to a 2.0% annual yield. The company slightly missed quarterly EPS estimates, reporting $1.75 versus the $1.76 consensus, while revenue exceeded expectations at $4.22 billion.

Sawyer & Company Inc bought a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 11,639 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,301,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Compound Planning Inc. grew its holdings in Aflac by 0.7% during the first quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 13,743 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,508,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.3% in the third quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 7,013 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $784,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Studio Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 7,650 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $897,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 17,063 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,987,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ABLE Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 3,658 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $409,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $119.00 to $123.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $125.00 price target (up from $124.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. TD Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $110.00 price target (up from $101.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $117.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 113,611 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.53, for a total transaction of $13,466,311.83. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 50,134,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,942,422,016.37. This represents a 0.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 713,662 shares of company stock valued at $83,323,978. Insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $120.57. 333,090 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,261,497. The company has a market cap of $60.45 billion, a PE ratio of 12.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.56. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $105.43 and a 52-week high of $130.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $116.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $117.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $4.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 26.91%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were issued a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Aflac's payout ratio is 26.15%.

Aflac Profile

Aflac Incorporated NYSE: AFL is an insurance company specializing in supplemental health and life insurance. Through its policies, the company helps individuals and families manage expenses that may not be fully covered by major medical insurance, including deductibles, copayments and other out-of-pocket costs.

Aflac offers products such as accident, cancer, critical illness, hospital indemnity, dental and vision, disability, life and long-term care insurance. Many of its supplemental policies provide cash benefits directly to policyholders, who can generally use the funds according to their individual needs.

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