Roxbury Financial LLC Decreases Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Roxbury Financial LLC lessened its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 317 shares during the period. Roxbury Financial LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $839,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 121.9% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Groupe la Francaise purchased a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Aflac by 90.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.15.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other 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 transaction of $102,570.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE AFL opened at $109.14 on Friday. 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 Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.75, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a fifty day moving average of $104.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $105.18.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 52.61%.

Aflac declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that permits the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Company 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.