Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Acquired by Stiles Financial Services Inc

Stiles Financial Services Inc grew its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Aflac were worth $324,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. AlphaCore Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new position in Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Aflac by 121.9% in the 1st 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 period. Groupe la Francaise acquired a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AFL. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $102.00 price target (up previously from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.45.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $102,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $111.09 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $107.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $105.51. The firm has a market cap of $59.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.86. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $96.95 and a 12 month high of $115.44.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.07. The business 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%.The business’s revenue was down 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

Aflac declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is 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.