Wealthstar Advisors LLC Purchases New Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Wealthstar Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 16,074 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,787,000. Aflac makes up about 0.8% of Wealthstar Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Aflac by 4.5% in the first quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,610 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $513,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 1.3% in the first quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC now owns 54,471 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,057,000 after purchasing an additional 695 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in Aflac by 0.5% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,365,168 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $151,793,000 after purchasing an additional 6,372 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 121.9% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capitol Family Office Inc. acquired a new position in Aflac in the first quarter worth $92,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group upped their price target on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $106.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total transaction of $290,675.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at $711,149.60. The trade was a 29.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the business's 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 $7,496,045.28. This trade represents a 34.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 40,750 shares of company stock worth $4,304,295. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Aflac Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE AFL opened at $105.12 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $88.00 and a 12 month high of $115.50. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.20. The company has a market capitalization of $56.83 billion, a PE ratio of 16.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.01). Aflac had a return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 21.27%. The business had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.66 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were paid a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac's payout ratio is 36.25%.

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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