Eads & Heald Wealth Management Sells 845 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Eads & Heald Wealth Management lowered its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 25,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 845 shares during the quarter. Aflac accounts for 1.3% of Eads & Heald Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Eads & Heald Wealth Management’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,713,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Hilltop National Bank bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its position 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 during the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise bought a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Aflac during the first quarter valued at $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $112.24 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $60.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.45, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.86. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $96.95 and a 52-week high of $115.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company’s 50 day moving average is $106.31 and its 200 day moving average is $105.37.

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

Aflac announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $102,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group dropped their price target on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Barclays set a $98.00 price target on Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.15.

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.