EP Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires New Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $254,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Level Four Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 23.1% during the 1st quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 21,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,377,000 after purchasing an additional 4,004 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in Aflac in the 1st quarter worth about $984,000. Macquarie Group Ltd. raised its position in Aflac by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 61,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,988,000 after buying an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at about $283,000. Finally, Toroso Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 49,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,218,000 after acquiring an additional 2,573 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.75% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of AFL stock opened at $76.92 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.07 and a current ratio of 0.07. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.70 billion, a PE ratio of 10.28, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.93. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $56.03 and a 52-week high of $78.43.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.16. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.10% and a net margin of 24.48%. The company had revenue of $5.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.52 billion. On average, analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 23rd were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 22.46%.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, insider Virgil Raynard Miller sold 2,626 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.08, for a total value of $202,412.08. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $168,111.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO James Todd Daniels sold 3,355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.51, for a total value of $249,981.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 60,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,491,015.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Virgil Raynard Miller sold 2,626 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.08, for a total transaction of $202,412.08. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $168,111.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,170 shares of company stock valued at $2,286,000. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Aflac from $71.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 15th. StockNews.com started coverage on Aflac in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. 888 reissued a “reiterates” rating on shares of Aflac in a research report on Friday, June 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Aflac from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $74.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.82.

Aflac Profile

Aflac Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, provides supplemental health and life insurance products. It operates in two segments, Aflac Japan and Aflac U.S. 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.