Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Purchased by TFG Advisers LLC

TFG Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 115 shares during the quarter. TFG Advisers LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. AlphaCore Capital LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew 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 buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise acquired a new position in Aflac in the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Aflac in the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Aflac by 90.8% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on AFL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $106.00 price objective (up previously from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $102,570.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at $2,575,019.85. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Aflac Stock Down 0.8%

AFL stock opened at $110.81 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $115.50. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.36. The firm has a market cap of $59.26 billion, a PE ratio of 25.13, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.86.

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

Aflac Announces Dividend

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

Aflac declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that permits the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors 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.