Tred Avon Family Wealth LLC Acquires Shares of 8,899 Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Tred Avon Family Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 8,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $994,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in Aflac by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 93,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,856,000 after acquiring an additional 9,907 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 3.8% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,768,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $196,662,000 after purchasing an additional 65,308 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Aflac by 31.0% in the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 55,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,146,000 after purchasing an additional 13,017 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in Aflac by 14.5% in the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 222,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,485,000 after buying an additional 28,190 shares during the period. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its holdings in Aflac by 4.8% during the second quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 140,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,857,000 after buying an additional 6,400 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays set a $101.00 price target on Aflac and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $120.00 target price on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $119.00 price objective (up previously from $110.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $110.67.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $109.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market cap of $57.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $110.46 and its 200-day moving average is $107.81. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $115.83.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.72. Aflac had a return on equity of 14.97% and a net margin of 23.55%.The business had revenue of $4.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.16 EPS. Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was up 59.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be given a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 18th. Aflac’s payout ratio is 31.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 15,862 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.00, for a total value of $1,776,544.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 230,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,837,056. The trade was a 6.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Frederic Jean Guy Simard sold 1,722 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $193,725.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 1,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $153,450. This trade represents a 55.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 31,766 shares of company stock valued at $3,549,706 over the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Aflac

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.