Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 97.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 287,437 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 142,028 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned about 0.05% of Aflac worth $29,733,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 64.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,507,000 after buying an additional 5,708 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,995 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $620,000 after buying an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 107.4% during the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 1,041 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC now owns 3,556 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $368,000 after buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $745,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Aflac Price Performance
Aflac stock traded up $0.68 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $103.49. 3,415,441 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,112,682. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $106.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $106.21. The company has a market capitalization of $55.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.78, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $86.46 and a 12-month high of $115.50.
Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.53 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 37.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.66 EPS. Analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Aflac Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac's payout ratio is currently 36.25%.
Insider Activity at Aflac
In other Aflac news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total transaction of $3,197,456.58. Following the transaction, the director now owns 49,962 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,360,422.98. This trade represents a 37.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total value of $3,906,830.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 70,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,496,045.28. This represents a 34.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 71,552 shares of company stock worth $7,609,382. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AFL shares. UBS Group increased their target price on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Barclays raised their price objective on Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price objective on Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $104.93.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Aflac
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.
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