Aflac Incorporated $AFL Holdings Raised by Gateway Wealth Partners LLC

Gateway Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1,025.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,236 shares during the period. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,798,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth $25,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Evergreen Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Navalign LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on AFL. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $108.00 price objective (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Evercore raised Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Aflac from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $116.17.

Aflac Stock Up 0.8%

AFL stock opened at $126.61 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $96.95 and a fifty-two week high of $126.87. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $118.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $114.31. The stock has a market cap of $64.44 billion, a PE ratio of 14.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.61.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.66 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 27,845 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.71, for a total value of $3,249,789.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 50,898,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,940,362,767.90. This represents a 0.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 12,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.54, for a total value of $1,441,599.80. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 33,310 shares in the company, valued at $3,881,947.40. This trade represents a 27.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 744,916 shares of company stock worth $87,118,632. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.